Brahms

'Vll^j^WnilW—.'

V MAY and MAY

Whitebridge, Semley,

Shaftesbury SP7 9QP

Music and Music Literature

ZH (UXdeter (^UBXcianR

Edited bv
FREDERICK J. CROWEST

THE

Master Musicians

Bach. By C. F. Abdy Williams.

\_2nd Edition.
Beethoven. By Frederick J. Crowest.

[4//^ Edition.
Brahms. By J. Lawrence Erb.
Chopin. By J. Cuthbert Hadden.
Handel. By C. F. Abdy Williams.

[2nd Edition.
Haydn. By J. Cuthbert Hadden.
Mendelssohn. By Stephen S. Stratton.

[2fid Edition.
Mozart. By Eustace J. Breakspeare.
Schumann. By Annie W. Patterson.
Schubert. By E. Duncan.
Wagner. By Charles A. Lidgey.

[T,rd Edition.

Brahms

By

J. Lawrence Erb

With Illustrations and Portraits

London : J. M. Dent & Co.

New York : E. P. Dutton & Co.
1905

All Rights Reserved

MUSIC
LIBRARY

ML
4iO
11 EL,
1105-

TO

Mr. LOUIS G. HEINZE

IN GRATUFVI. APPRF.CIATION

Preface

The man who perpetrates a new book upon the long-
suffering public owes that public an apology. Mine —
which I trust will suffice— is that there does not exist
in the English language, so far as I am aware, a complete
up-to-date biography of Brahms. This little volume
is an attempt to supply the deficiency. The work
was conceived and carried out as a labour of love,
and was meant to give to our English-speaking public
a correct idea, so far as could be gathered from the
writings of those who knew, of the principal facts
concerning the character and achievements of one whom
all must acknowledge as a Master Artist.

To the authors of the works which have been
consulted in the preparation of this book (the list to
be exhaustive would be exhausting as well) I desire to
extend my acknowledgment for the aid I have derived
from them. To the readers I extend the hope that they
may bring to the perusal of the volume an unbiased
judgment, and that they may lay it down with a new
sense of the greatness of one of the most faithful
labourers for the advancement of all that is true in Art —

Johannes Brahms.

J. L. E.

Brooklyn, New York.

Contents

BIOGRAPHICAL

Date of Birth — His Father — His Mother — Father's Circumstances
Poor — Education — Changes of Residence — Persecutions —
His Brother and Sister — Youthful Adventure — Normal
Child — Home Life — First Music Study — Change of
Teachers — Fond of Books — Tin Soldiers — First Ap-
pearance— Programme — Further Concerts — The First
Tour — Remenyi — Early Privations — First Success as
Pianist — Kreutzer Sonata — His Thorough Training —
Meeting Joachim — Hanover and Politics — Meeting Liszt
— Unfortunate Episode — Lost Sonata — To Dusseldorf
— Meets Schumann — Dietrich — Brahms' Personality —
Hanover Again — "Neuc Bahnen" — Gewandhaus —
Centre of Controversy — "Lohengrin" — First Works
— Third Sonata — Variation Form — Sceptics — Schumann's
Friendship — Aid to Madame Schumann — Visits to En-
denich — Personal Appearance — Characteristics — Pranks
— Rubinstein — Mannerisms as a Pianist — Manner of
Composing — The Period of Growth — Schumann's
Death — Op. lo appears — First Piano Concerto — Serenades
and Trio — More New Compositions — Advance over
Former Work — Visit to Switzerland — " Handel
Variations" and " Marienlieder " — Ladies' Quartet
— Oldenburg — Miinster-am-Stein — Great Teaser —
Oldenburg again — Affaire du Coeur — Publications of
1862 — Unfavourable Reception in Vienna — New
Friends — The Ice melts — A Complete Success
— Personal Popularity — Birthday Gift — Asks Advice
— Leaves the Sing-Akademic — Schumann Four-hand

ix

Contents

Variations — Publications of 1863 — New Works of 1864
— Impudent Purse — Organ Fugue and Folk-songs —
'"Volks-Kinderlieder " — Another Concert Tour —
"Arrived" at Last — The Magelone Lieder — Piano
Quintet — Switzerland again — Death of Frau Brahms —
Brahm's " Bride " — Publications of 1866 — New Triumphs
— Brahms on a Pleasure Trip — Brahms' Beard — Gratz —
Important Event — "German Requiem" — Great En-
thusiasm — Opening Chorus and Second Number —
Remaining Numbers — Brahms' Gathering — Later Perfor-
mances— Inspiration — Strong Personality — Publications
of 1868— Full Fruition (1869-1897) — Works of 1869—
'' Liebeslieder Waltzes" — Hungarian Dances —
" Rhapsodie " — Pianoforte Concerto succeeds in Vienna
— New Masterpieces — " Triumphlied " — " ^Esthetic
Women " — Publications of 187 1 — Gesellschaft der Musik-
freunde — Still Delicate-looking — Works of 1873 — " Haydn
Variations" — Later Successes of " Triumphlied " — First
Decoration — Works of 1874 — " Requiem " and " Ring "
— Last Gesellschaft Concerts — Public Ceremony — Ziegel-
hausen — Popular with Children — Students' Prank —
Aristocratic Friends — Sassnitz — First Symphony — Works
of 1875 and 1876 — Doctor of Music — Brahms' Thesis
— Brahms in England — "Second Symphony" — First
Italian Journey — Doctor of Philosophy — Violin Concerto
and Sonata — Motets and Piano Pieces — Schumann
Denkmal — Violin Sonata and Rhapsodies — Called to
London—" Chorale-vorspiel " — Nanie Keller — "Third
Symphony " — Concerto, Songs and Trio — " (Quintet "
and " Gesang der Parzen " — Brahms Concert at Olden-
burg— Many Vocal Works — "Fourth Symphony"
— Honours — Thun— Fondness for Coffee — Visits and
Visitors — Letters — A Good Word for Wagner — The Dog
"Argos" — Double Concerto — Martucci — Rossini — Intense
Patriot — More Honours — Brahms as a Nurse — Reverence
for Masters of Art — Loved the Italians — Musical Centre
of Vienna — Last Works — The Last Italian Journey —
" Fest- und Gedenkspriiche " — Meiningen and Miihlfeld
— Royal Friends — Last Swiss Trip — Madame Schumann's
Death — " Only a Commonplace Jaundice" — Last Public
Appearance — Failing Health — Death — His Estate — His
Heirs — Statue and Museum ....

Contents

BRAHMS : THE MAN

PAGE

Appearance and Health — Walking and Mountain Climb -
ing — Appetite and Unconventionality — Powerful
Personality — A Gungl March — Spectacles — As a Singer
and Critic — A Genial Friend — Indifferent to Criticism —
His Father's Brusqueness — Disliked Emotional Display —
Goetz's "Treasure" — Music for the Theatre — Some
Bright Criticisms — Brahms and Rubinstein — Unfortunate
Composers — Raff — His Broad Sympathies — Profound
Scholarship — Kindliness to Servants — Modest and Tact-
ful— The Tonkiinstlerverein — Gispy Bands — Sixtieth
Birthday Celebration — " Lion-hunter " — Incident at Gratz
— Summing up — Letter-writing — Leeds Festival — Auto-
graph Hunters — Devotion to Children — Portraits and a
Subterfuge — Amateur Portraits ; and Mirrors — Admirer
of Johann Strauss — Cheerful Disposition — Not Intimate
with Family — "A Bottle of Bach" — Haydn and
Beethoven — Hanslick's Critiques — Brahms as a Teacher
— True Modesty — Worked Slowly — "Whistle a Song "
— Helping Young Musicians — Advice to Beginners —
Liberties with Compositions — Manner of Composing —
Music for the Masses — Temperance Societies — Male
Choruses and Brass Bands — Too much Piano — Singing
in the Schools — Concerning Marriage — Unmarried —
" Barbarian " — Fond of the Theatre — Theories concerning
Opera — Operatic Possibilities — "Kiinig Hirsch" —
" Konig Hirsch" Defunct — Marriage and Opera — As a
Wagnerite — Wagner as a Brahmsite — Praise of Wagner
— Attitude towards Wagner — Mozart and Verdi — Goetz's
Opera ....... o?

BRAHMS: THE MUSICIAN

His Versatility — Exponent of Absolute Music — Much
in Common with Browning — Thoroughly Modern —
Early Works Romantic in Tendency — Master of Detail
— As a Pianist — His Playing in 1880 — Asa Conductor —
Last Great Classical Composer — Climax of Modern

Contents

PAGE

Musical Thought — Spitta's Estimate — Repeated Hearing
Necessary — No Concessions — Sense of Rhythm —
Characteristics of Symphonies — Works for Piano — Songs
— Not an Imitator — Authors of His Songs — Great Number
of Songs — Best known Songs — Choral Works — Chamber
Music — No Ground for Comparison with Wagner — Final
Rating — Tschaikowsky not a Brahmsite — But liked
Brahms — Brahms' Attitude toward Tschaikowsky —
Dvorak's Gratitude — Growth in Popularity — Anti-
Brahmsite Verdict — J.F. Runciman — H. T. Finck — Con-
sistently Painstaking — Musical Logician — No Appeal to
the Popular Mind — Educate Audiences up to Brahms
— Uncompromisingly Classical — Details of Treatment —
Not the Greatest Musician — Brahms and Other Com-
posers— Brahms and his Contemporaries — Brahms as
Colourist — His Chief Musical Sin — The Symphonies —
The Choral Works — Chamber Music, Concertos and
Sonatas — Pianoforte Works — Songs — Compositions too
Difficult — Summing up — Future of Music . 119

APPENDIX A

List of Compositions ....■• I49

APPENDIX B

Bibliography . • • ■ ... 173

Index . . • ■ ^77

List of Illustrations

PAGE

Johannes Brahms {reproduced by permission
of the Proprietors of '■^ Harmonie^^ from the
Original Photograph in the possession of the
Herrn Hofphotogr. C. Brasch of Berlin).
Photogravure. Frontispiece

Brahms' Birthplace {reproduced by permission

of tJie Proprietors of ^^ Harmonie") . facing 4

Brahms at the Age of 18 {from a Portrait

by If eft) .... facing 18

Johannes Brahms {from a Photograph by

Marie Fellinger) . . . facing 66

Facsimile of Handwriting . . facing 92

Silhouette of Brahms {reproduced by per-
mission of the Proprietors of '■'■ Hannonie^^
after a Drawi7i^ from the book on R. Lechner
by Wilh. Muller) . . . .118

Facsimile of the Score of the " Weigenlied"

facitig 136-7

XIll

BRAHMS

Biographical

1833-1854

Johannes Brahms ' was born on Tuesday, May 7,

1833, in the city of Hamburg — the birthplace also of

Mendelssohn — the first of the two sons of

Johann Jacob Brahms. Kalbeck states that Date of

the sister, Elizabeth, was the eldest, Johannes Birth

being the second child ; at any rate Fritz was

the youngest. Johannes was baptized on May 26 in

St Michael's Church.

Johann Brahms was himself a fine musician, and
played the double-bass for a time at the Karl-Schultze
Theatre, and later in the Stadt-Theatre or-
chestra. He had filled the office of Meister His
der Stadtmusik (Municipal Musical Director) Father
in his native town of Heide, in Schleswick-
Holstein, where he was born June i, 1806, and had
come to Hamburg to try his fortune in the orchestra

' The family name seems to have been spelled originally
Brahmst ; in fact, Johannes' name appeared in that form upon
a concert programme in 1849.

A I

Brah

ms

where Handel had once played second violin. His
father (Johann's) was opposed to a musical career for
his son, so the boy used to steal away once a week and
take lessons of the town musician, in this way learning
to play on the viola, violin, 'cello, flute and horn. The
father was much scandalised upon one occasion to see
Johann playing the viola at a dance in a neighbouring
village. This event seemed to clear the atmosphere
somewhat, and after that the opposition to a musical
career gradually vanished. In 1826 Johann removed
to Hamburg. In addition to his duties in the theatres
above-mentioned, he was also contra-bassist in the
Philharmonic Concerts, and was connected for many
years, until it disbanded in 1867, as a horn player with
the Hamburg Biirgerwehr (city militia). He lived the
usual life of an orchestral musician, picking up odd jobs
wherever he could find them, never overpaid, and often
underfed. He was considered in the '40's one of the
best contra-bassists in Hamburg, and a thorough artist.

His wife, Johannes' mother, was a native of Hamburg
(born 1789), Johanna Henrika Christine Nissen by name,
a woman of affectionate, noble character,
His who, it will be seen, was seventeen years

Mother older than her husband. She was the
daughter of Peter Radeloff Nissen, and
with her sister, Christina Frederika, kept a store for
the sale of Holland goods and notions, and took in
lady lodgers. Johanna's special work was to attend to
the wants of the lodgers, while her sister kept the shop.

Biographical

but their spare moments were generally spent together
in the shop. She was not sturdy, but, on the contrary,
delicate from childhood. She and Herr Brahms were
married on June 9, 1830, and Frau Brahms moved from
her home on the Ulrikusstrasse to their first residence in
the Backerbreitergang, where their first child, Elizabeth
Wilhelmine Louise, was born. This event made larger
quarters necessary, and they removed to the Anselar
Platz, back of the Specksgang Towers, an interesting,
old-fashioned building, where Johannes was born in a
room on the first floor.

Johann Brahms was a versatile musician, but his
circumstances were of the humblest, so that in summer-
time, when the theatres were closed, he
formed one of a sextet who played in a Father's
summer garden, " passing the hat " for Circutn-
their compensation. As a boy, Johannes stances

arranged for them marches and other Poor

popular music, and even tried his hand at
original compositions.

His education was necessarily somewhat limited
owing to the straitened circumstances of
the family, though he was sent at the age Education
of six to the school of Heinrich Friedrich
Boss, not far from the Brahms' residence in the
Dammthorwall.

The family had hitherto led a rather roving existence,
each new arrival making larger quarters imperative, so
that when Fritz Friedrich came, on March 26, 1S35,

3

Brahms

it became necessary to seek a new home, which

was found with the Detmerings (Frau
Changes Brahms' sister was now Frau Detmering)
of in the Ulrikusstrasse. This arrangement

Residence lasted for some time, until the Brahms family

removed to the Dammthorwall, and later to
No. 74 Fuhlentwiete, where they finally settled.

In 1847 he attended a good Biirgerschule (citizen's
or public school), and in 1848 a better, that of Herr
Hoffmann.

When he was eight years old his father requested
the teachers to be easy with him because of the time

that he must take for his musical studies.
Persecu- On the contrary, they made his work harder,
tions and held him up to the ridicule of his

schoolmates.
Brahms' boyhood days passed uneventfully. He grew
up with his brother Fritz and sister Elise amid the

poorest surroundings. Fritz turned to music
His (the Neue Zeitschrift mentions his successful

Brother debut at Hamburg in January 1864), was a
and Sister piano teacher in Hamburg, lived for many

years in Caracas, and died at an early age
in Hamburg of a disease of the brain. Elise married
a watchmaker, much to Johannes' disappointment, and
has also been dead some time.

Like his sister (who retained the trouble all through
life), Johannes was subject, until early manhood, to
nervous headaches that troubled him sometimes for

4

UKAHMS' lilRTllPI.ACE

To /ace page 4

Biographical

days at a time ; otherwise he was all his life free from
sickness. When he was ten years old he
met with a severe accident on the way to Youthful
school. A drosky, coming rapidly along Adventure
the street, knocked him down, and a
wheel passed over his chest. He was six weeks re-
covering from the effects of this accident.

The courts and alleys of the poor quarter in which
he lived were always resounding with the songs of
children, in which he joined heartily, with
his high soprano voice. He was a playful, Normal
cheerful boy, healthy and normal, without Child

a trace of the aberrations which so often
characterise the childhood of genius.

The rooms of the family were dark and damp, and
the fare must at times have been very
meagre, for Brahms on one occasion said Home

to his sister, " Please don't pour so much Life

water into the soup ; I would rather give
you a little more money." (There is reason to believe
that their fortunes improved later.) However, theirs
was a happy lot, with a kind father and devoted mother,
who is described by one of Brahms' Diisseldorf friends
as " His dear, old mother, whose kindness of heart was
only equalled by her simple manners. Her Johannes
was always the inexhaustible subject of conversation." As
a boy, Johannes worked and studied with his father, and
used to learn lessons from books with his mother, and
play " four-hands " with her at the piano "just for fun."

5

Brah

ms

There was never any doubt as to his becoming a
musician. From early childhood he learned everything
his father could teach him, read everything
First he could lay hands on, practised with un-

Music deviating enthusiasm, and filled reams of

Study paper with exercises and variations. The

soul of the child went out in music. He
played scales long before he knew the notes, and great
was his joy when at the age of six he discovered the
possibility of making a melody visible by placing black
dots on lines at different intervals, inventing a system
of notation of his own before he had been made
acquainted with the method which the musical world
had been using for some centuries. Not long after this,
while still in his seventh year, he was placed under the
instruction of Otto Cossell (1813-1865), his first piano-
forte teacher, who was very well satisfied with him as
a piano pupil, but lamented the fact that he wasted so
much time at his "everlasting composing." (It had
been his father's desire that Johannes might be an
orchestral musician like himself, but the child's tastes
turned so strongly toward the piano that the father
wisely gave in.)

When Johannes was in his tenth year he had made

such remarkable progress that Cossell

Change of thought best to secure a more advanced

Teachers instructor, so he was put under the care of

Eduard Marxsen (Cossell's own teacher),

the Royal Music Director at Altona, who took him un-

6

Biographical

willingly at first, but with whom he remained for a
number of years. Marxsen was at once attracted by
the rare keenness of Brahms' intellect. His study in-
cluded pianoforte and composition, in both of which
branches he early developed marked ability. It was
to Marxsen that Brahms owed the inspiration to become
a composer, also his great improvement as a pianist.
Before he really knew how to score thoroughly, he
used to practise putting long pieces from single parts
into full score, but under Marxsen theoretical study
was carried on systematically.

In early youth the boy Johannes began to collect
a library. Money was not plentiful, so he bought many
of his books from the second-hand dealers
who frequent the bridges at Hamburg, and Fond of
occasionally ran across some remarkable old Books

works in this way — among others a copy of
Mattheson's Vollkommener Kapellmeister.

As a child he was passionately fond of tin soldiers,
and could scarcely cease playing with them
even when he was grown to young man- Tin

hood. At twenty-eight he still kept them Soldiers
locked up in his desk, unable to part
with them.

When he was fourteen years of age Johannes made
his debut as a pianist (some say against his teacher's
will), and was greeted with great applause. He early
showed a love for the folk-songs of his fatherland,
which he used as themes for many remarkable varia-

7

Brah

ms

tions — a musical form, by the way, which Brahms by

his masterly treatment rescued from the
First disrepute into which it had fallen. In his

Appear- first published work, the Pianoforte Sonata
ance (Op. i), he uses an old folk-song, "Ver-

stohlen geht der Mond auf," as the basis of
the slow movement.

The programme of the first concert included : —

" Adagio and Rondo " (from a Concerto)

Rosenhain.
Pro- " Fzutsisie on m//iam Te//" Dohler.

gramme " Serenade," for left hand . Marxsen.

"6tude" .... Herz.

"Fugue" .... J.S.Bach.
and his own "Variations on a Volkslied."

A speculative impresario at this time was desirous
of arranging a concert tour for the boy Brahms, but his

teacher protested with all his power, and
Further fortunately succeeded in preventing the
Concerts threatened misfortune. Two more concerts

within a few months completed his public
appearances during this period ; then he went back to
work, devoting his time more especially to the study
of composition.

It was not until five years later, in 1853,
The First that he for the first time left Hamburg and
Tour undertook a tour with Eduard Remenyi, the

Hungarian gipsy violinist, for the purpose of
introducing himself and his works. Remenyi had pre-

8

Biographical

viously met Brahms in Hamburg, where the young
pianist had accompanied him with great force and fire
in some of the now well-known Hungarian Dances.

These two, Brahms and Remenyi, died within about
a year of each other, Remenyi dropping dead on the
stage of a vaudeville theatre in San Francisco
immediately after finishing a solo. He had Remenyi
always been proud of the part he had played
in bringing Brahms before the public, and never tired
of talking about him, considering him as without a
rival — the culminating fiower of modern music.

At twenty the young genius had already suffered
much and gone through hard times. He had picked
up a living by arranging marches and dances
for brass bands, or playing dance music, or Early

even occasionally acting as accompanist in Privations
a cafi-chantant. "The best songs came
into my head while brushing my shoes before dawn,"
said he, and already he jealously reserved a part of
each day for composition, always happy, no matter
what his hardships, when he could pour out his soul
in music. He always did as well as he could even
the most distasteful labour, so that he learned much in
the school of adversity, and his character
ripened early. First

He was now a master of his instrument. Success as
making no pretence of virtuosity, but play- Pianist
ing with true musical feeling and insight.
He found at first little sympathy as a composer and

9

Brah

ms

but moderate success as pianist, but this tour brought
Brahms to the notice of Schumann, and so resulted in
making his fortune.

At Gottingen they gave a concert in which the young
pianist made a deep impression upon the musicians
present. He and Remenyi were to play
Kreutzer the Kreutzer Sonata (Beethoven), but at
Sonata the last moment it was discovered that the

piano was half a tone too low. It was too
late to send for a tuner, and to lower the violin would
ruin the efifect, so Brahms volunteered to transpose the
piano part (from A to B flat), to which Remenyi, with
many misgivings, consented; consequently Brahms
played the entire sonata from memory, without a re-
hearsal, half a tone higher than it was written. This
gives some idea of his thorough preparation and
prodigious memory. In all his concert tours he never
carried any music with him. Bach and Beethoven he
had memorised almost entire, as well as a number of
modern pieces.

When Marxsen heard of this episode — which was

remarkable chiefly because of the per-

His former's youth and inexperience — he ex-

Thorough hibited little surprise, for Brahms had for

Training years been accustomed to transpose great

pieces at sight into any key.

As soon as the concert was over, Joachim, who had
witnessed the feat, came forward and congratulated the
performers, and off'ered to give them letters to Liszt at

Biographical

Weimar and to Count Platen, the Hofintendant at
Hanover, and, after their return, to Schu-
mann at Diisseldorf. The offer was gladly Meeting
accepted, and, armed with the two precious Joachim
letters, they set out for Hanover. Joachim
wrote at this time to his friend, Ehrlich : " Brahms
has an altogether exceptional talent for composition,
a gift which is further enhanced by the unaffected
modesty of his character. His playing, too, gives
every presage of a great artistic career, full of fire and
energy, yet, if I may say so, inevitable in its precision
and certainty of touch. In brief, he is the most con-
siderable musician of his age that I have ever met."

At Hanover they gave a most successful concert, the
King and many members of his Court being present,
and everything pointed toward a most pro-
pitious stay, when a sudden blow upset all Hanover
their plans. A second concert had been and

planned, when the police intervened, and Politics
not only forbade the concert, but ordered
them out of the city, giving them passports to Weimar.
The reason for this extraordinary behaviour lay in the
fact that Remenyi's brother had been active in the
revolt of '48, and it was suspected that Eduard had
also had a hand in it, a suspicion which proved to be
founded upon fact.

There was nothing left to do but to go to Weimar,
leaving behind them all their bright prospects. At
Weimar a successful concert was given in June

II

Brah

ms

1853, the programme including Brahms' E flat minor

"Scherzo," which greatly attracted Liszt,
Meeting who was in the audience. The next day
Liszt Brahms met Liszt at his residence in the

Altenburg. The meeting was brought about
by Remenyi. Brahms was very nervous when brought
face to face with the great master, and when asked to
play declined, although pressed to do so by both Liszt
and Remenyi. There were present on that occasion
also Raff, Pruckner, Karl Klindworth, and our own
William Mason. Finally Liszt picked up the manu-
script of the E flat minor "Scherzo" (Op. 4), (which
Mason says was so illegible that, if he had had occasion
to study it, he would have been obliged first to make a
copy of it) and, despite its illegibility, read it so mar-
vellously that Brahms was amazed and delighted.
Raff thought certain parts suggested Chopin's B minor
Scherzo, but Brahms replied that he had never seen
nor heard any of Chopin's compositions. (This was
half a century ago, hence is not so remarkable as it
may seem.)

A little later, Liszt, by request, played his recently-
composed B minor Sonata, of which he was very fond.

When he came to a very expressive move-
Unfor- ment, in which he expected the sympathetic

tunate attention of his listeners, he looked around

Episode to see the efiFect on Brahms (who was

physically exhausted from much travel) and
found him dozing. Liszt played the Sonata to the end,

Biographical

then rose and left the room : Brahms left Weimar next
morning. It is not likely that Liszt allowed this incident
to prejudice him against Brahms — in fact, he hailed him
as a new recruit to the " Music of the Future " — but the
fact that Brahms was later put forward by the anti-
Wagnerites (against his will, it is true) as their cham-
pion, and especially that he later overcame his romantic
tendencies to a great extent, may have influenced Liszt
somewhat. At any rate, neither especially cultivated
the other's acquaintance. Remenyi remained at Weimar
for a short time after Brahms left, and the tour was
abandoned at this point.

It was during this visit to Liszt that Brahms lost
the manuscript of a Violin Sonata, originally Op. 5,
which has never been recovered. In 1872
Wasielewski showed Dietrich a lengthy and Lost

beautifully written manuscript of a violin Sonata

part, which Dietrich immediately recognised
as in Brahms' handwriting of his earlier years. The
piano part could not be found. This must undoubtedly
have been part of the lost Violin Sonata.

After the Weimar incident, Brahms at once returned
to Gottingen for the promised letter to Schumann, but
as it was now summer he remained for
some time with Joachim (at Gottingen) To

attending the lectures. Late in September Diisseldorf
he went with his precious letter to Diissel-
dorf, Joachim having previously called Schumann's
attention to Brahms' works. The curtailed tour had

13

Brahms

so impoverished Brahms that he had to walk all the
way from Gottingen to Diisseldorf, and it was a dusty
and travel-worn young man that presented himself at
Schumann's door that October morning.

Brahms found at once that welcome and appreciation
which were so characteristic of the Schumanns. Despite

the difference in their ages, they soon fell
Meets into the habit of calling each other by their

Schumann Christian names. The Schumanns were in

the habit of giving weekly "parlour musi-
cales," where each person present was expected to play
or sing for the entertainment and edification of the
assemblage. It was at one of these gatherings that
Brahms was introduced to the Diisseldorf musical
circle. Naturally, much listening had made them
somewhat sceptical as to the young debutant, but
Brahms, by his masterly rendition of Schumann's
"Carnival," melted their icy reserve and called forth
enthusiastic applause from the company, while Schu-
mann kissed him on the cheek.

At that time Dietrich, afterwards a warm friend and
admirer of Brahms, was also staying in Diisseldorf, and

the two used to breakfast together at the
Dietrich Annanasberg in the Hofgarten. During this
month of October, these two and Schumann
wrote a " Sonata for Violin and Piano " (which still
exists, in manuscript, in the possession of Joachim),
Dietrich contributing an Allegro in C minor, Schumann
an Intermezzo in F major, Brahms — who signs himself

14

I

Biographical

^^ Johannes Kreiskr, Junior " — an Allegro {Scherzo) in
C minor, on a theme from Dietrich's movement, and
Schumann the Finale in A major. Joachim was to play
at a concert in Diisseldorf on October 27, so Schumann
wrote on the title page : —

" In anticipation of the arrival of our beloved and
honoured friend, Joseph Joachim, this sonata was
written by Robert Schumann, Albert Dietrich, and
Johannes Brahms." After reading the sonata through,
Joachim was asked to guess the composer of each part,
which he readily did.

Brahms' fascinating personality here again won all
with whom he came in contact. In a letter to Nau-
mann, Dietrich wrote: —

"Brahms is, as he could not indeed fail Brahms'
to be, a splendid fellow; genius is written Person-
on his brow and shines forth from his clear ality

blue eyes." The young musicians were
unanimous in their enthusiastic admiration of his
compositions and playing.

In November, Schumann went to Holland with
Madame Schumann, returning December 22, and did
not meet Brahms again until January 1854,
at a performance of Paradise and the Peri Hanover
in Hanover, which Brahms attended in again

company with Joachim and Julius Otto
Grimm, later Director at Miinster.

Schumann's enthusiasm had found expression in the
now famous article, " Neue Bahnen " (New Paths),

15

Brahms

which appeared October 28, in the Neue Zeit-
schrift fur Musik (No. 18 of that year),
" Neue as follows : —

Bahnen" "Ten years have passed away — almost

as many as I formerly devoted to the
publication of this paper — since I have allowed
myself to commit my opinion to this soil, so rich
in memories. Often, in spite of an over-strained
productive activity, I have felt moved to do so ; many
new and remarkable talents have made their appear-
ance, and a fresh musical power seemed about to reveal
itself among the many aspiring artists of the day, even
though their compositions were known only to the few.
I thought to follow with interest the pathwayof these elect ;
there would, there must, after such promise, suddenly
appear one who should utter the highest ideal expres-
sion of his time, who should claim the Mastership by no
gradual development, but burst upon us fully equipped,
as Minerva sprang from the brain of Jupiter. And he
has come, this chosen youth, over whose cradle the
Graces and Heroes seem to have kept watch. His
name is Johannes Brahms ; he comes from Hamburg,
where he has been working in quiet obscurity, instructed
by an excellent, enthusiastic teacher in the most diffi-
cult principles of his art, and lately introduced to me by
an honoured and well-known master. His mere out-
ward appearance assures us that he is one of the elect.
Seated at the piano, he disclosed wondrous regions.
We were drawn into an enchanted circle. Then came a

16

Biographical

moment of inspiration which transformed the piano into
an orchestra of wailing and jubilant voices. There
were sonatas, or rather veiled symphonies, songs whose
poetry revealed itself without the aid of words, while
throughout them all ran a vein of deep song melody ;
several pieces of a half-demoniacal character, but of
changing form ; then sonatas for piano and violin,
string quartets, and each one of these creations so dif-
ferent from the last, that they appeared to flow from
so many separate sources. Then, like an impetuous
torrent, he seemed to unite these streams into a foaming
waterfall ; over the tossing waves the rainbow presently
stretches its peaceful arch, while on the banks butter-
flies flit to and fro, and the nightingale warbles her
song. Whenever he bends his magic wand towards
great works, and the powers of orchestra and chorus
lend him their aid, still more wonderful glimpses of the
ideal world will be revealed to us. May the Highest
Genius help him onward ! Meanwhile another genius
— that of modesty — seems to dwell within him. His
comrades greet him at his first step in the world, where
wounds may perhaps await him, but the bay and laurel
also ; we welcome this valiant warrior."

The first result of this article was an invitation
to play some of his compositions at the
Gewandhaus in Leipsic; accordingly, Gewand-
on December 17, he played his "First haus

Sonata" and " E flat minor Scherzo." At
once he found himself the centre of a bitter controversy.
B 17

Brahms

On the one hand, "Schumann adores him," and
"Joachim will not allow him (Brahms) to leave him,"
so that they had gone together to Hanover
Centre of in November for a short stay. On the
Contra- other hand, some of the critics assailed him
versy furiously. " Brahms will never become a

star of the first magnitude," and "We wish
him a speedy deliverance from his over-enthusiastic
patrons " — such were some of the choice critiques that
this appearance brought forth.

However, the most important result of the concert

was the publication of his works by the houses of

Breitkopf & Hartel and Bartholf Senfif. A

" Lohen- later event of less importance than interest

grin"" was Brahms' first hearing of "Lohengrin"

at Leipsic on January 7, 1854.

The works that were brought out at this time were by

Breitkopf & Hartel :—

Op. I, "Sonata in C" (dedicated to
First Joachim).

Works Op. 2, "Sonata in F sharp minor (dedi-
cated to Clara Schumann).
Op. 3, "Six Songs" (dedicated to Bettina von

Arnim), (Goethe's Bettina).
Op. 4, "Scherzo in E flat minor" (dedicated to

Ernest Ferdinand Wenzel).
Op. 7, " Six Songs " (dedicated to Albert Diet-
rich).
Op. 9, "Variations (16 in number) on a
18

liKAIlMS Al' THK AGE OF l8

To/aci- />a.ge iS

Biographical

theme by Robert Schumann " (dedicated to
Clara Schumann).
By Bartholf Senff:—

Op. 5, "Sonata in F minor" (dedicated to the

Countess Ida von Hohenthal, nee Countess von

Scherr-Thoss).

Op. 6, " Six Songs " (dedicated to Louisa and

Minna Japha).

The Andante espressivo of the Sonata (Op. 5), Third

bears the following poetical heading : — Sonata

" Der Abend dammert, das Mondlicht scheint,
Da sind zwei Himmel in Liebe vereint
Und halten sich selig umfangen." — Siernau.

(The twilight gathers, the moonlight shines,
While heaven with earth in love combines
And holds her in blessed embrace.)

The Intermezzo (Riickblick) is a return to the theme
of the preceding Andante, forming, in contrast to the
intervening Scherzo, a most beautiful and effective bit of
writing.

The theme for Op. 9 was taken from Schumann's
" Bunte Blatter " (Op. 99). In this composition Brahms
already fixed the character of the Variation-
form, which he henceforth adopted, in which Variahon-
he seeks after an entirely new creation, in form

each variation, while retaining the harmony
of the theme. Beethoven and Schumann had both
made use of the same principle in their later variation-
cycles.

19

Brahms

The sensation which Schumann's article created was
profound, and Brahms at once became the object of
general attention and much sceptical oppo-
Sccptics sition. Schumann was not always so for-
tunate in his prophecies as in this case ;
hence his very enthusiasm was the cause of distrust
in some quarters. Von Biilow, who afterward became
one of the staunchest supporters of Brahms (his change
from Wagner to Brahms was not a desertion of his
colours, but simply a mental phenomenon — he and
Wagner really had nothing in common), wrote to Liszt :
"Mozart-Brahms or Schumann-Brahms " (he had been
compared to both composers) " does not in the least
disturb the tranquillity of my slumbers. It is fifteen
years since Schumann spoke similarly of the ' genius '
of W. Sterndale Bennett." This was the attitude of
many, and the opposition thus aroused at first proved a
real obstacle in his way, but the " Neue Bahnen " eventu-
ally contributed much to his success.

Schumann had built great hopes on Brahms : there is
no doubt that he had felt that Brahms would consum-
mate his (Schumann's) work. As one writer
Schumanfi' s hdi?, put it: "Johannes Brahms was the
Friendship spiritual son of Robert Schumann " ; but
he was a son with a mind of his own. Un-
fortunately, the warm friendship which sprang up between
the two was cut short by Schumann's untimely death.
Less than a year after their first meeting — to be more
accurate, it was just five months — appeared the first

Biographical

signs of Schumann's affliction. " Why do you play so
fast, dear Johannes ? " impatiently cried Schumann one
day; "I beg of you, be moderate." Brahms turned
quickly, and one glance told him that Schumann was a
sick man. His reply was a tear and a hand-clasp. Soon
more serious signs of disorder appeared, and then — the
catastrophe.

As soon as Brahms heard of Schumann's collapse he
hurried at once to Diisseldorf, remaining almost con-
stantly with Madame Schumann during the
master's illness ; and before her removal to Aid to

Berlin, to her mother's, he spent some time Madame
arranging Schumann's library. Infact, Schu- Schumann
mann's affairs in general had gotten into bad
shape, and Brahms quietly set to work and straightened
them out, proving himself ready, decisive and systematic
in business affairs, delicate, tactful and good-natured.

Brahms frequently visited the invalid at Endenich,
near Bonn, where for two years Schumann was confined
in the private asylum of Dr Richarz, and
would play for him. In his lucid intervals Visits to
he used to write Brahms pathetic letters, Endenich
thanking him for the pleasure and comfort
derived from his music. These visits always soothed
Schumann, whose condition for some time was regarded
as very hopeful; but the improvement was only tem-
porary.

At twenty, Brahms was small and slight. Dietrich

Brah

ms

describes him as "Youthful, almost boyish-looking,
with high-pitched voice and long, fair hair,
Personal making on the whole a most attractive im-
Appear- pression. Those who knew him best were
ance particularly struck by the characteristic

energy of his mouth and the serious
depths in his blue eyes."

He was especially at home among the Diisseldorf
artists and their families — Sohn and Gude and Schirner
and Lessing — also at the house of the blind
Character- Fraulein Leser (an intimate friend of the
istics Schumanns), where many musical gather-

ings took place. Brahms' modest and win-
ning manner charmed all. All agree that his was a
most fascinating personality ; he was infinitely good-
natured, met everybody on an equality, was modest,
never aggressive, and a good listener. He was full of
animal spirits and, with all his slightness, of such
vigorous physique that even the severest mental labour
hardly seemed an exertion. If he chose, he could
sleep soundly at any hour of day or night. He tried
to lower his strikingly high-pitched voice by speaking
hoarsely, giving it at times an unpleasant quality.
Already he was lazy about letter-writing.

With men he was lively, often exuberant, occasionally

blunt, and full of wild freaks. He would

Pranks run upstairs to Dietrich's room, hammer

upon the door with both fists, and, without

awaiting a reply, burst into the room. In an excur-

22

Biographical

sion to the Grafenburg one day he pulled up some
turnips from the fields which they were passing, cleaned
them carefully, and offered them to the ladies as re-
freshment. In social gatherings he entered into all
that was going on, being one of the liveliest in the
party. At an evening party (in Diisseldorf) his singing
of "O versenk " and other of his songs called forth
great applause.

Rubinstein, who first met Brahms about a year or
two later, did not know just what to make of him, for
he wrote to Liszt: "I hardly know how to
make clear the impression he made upon Rubinsteiii
me. For the salon he is not sufficiently
at ease {gracieux) ; for the concert room not fiery
enough ; for the country not primitive enough ; for the
city not cosmopolitan enough."

When he played he bent his head down over the
keyboard, and, when particularly excited, hummed the
melody aloud as he played it. His playing
was supremely artistic, powerful, and again, Manner-
exquisitely tender, always spirited \ in fact, isms as a
he was at this time more generally admired Pianist
as a pianist than as a composer. Schumann
said, " His playing and his music belong together ;
such original tone-effects I do not remember ever to
have heard."

In composing he liked to think of the words of
folk-songs, which seemed to suggest themes to his
mind. As a rule he never spoke about works upon

■2.\

Brahms

which he was engaged, and made no plans for future

compositions. His compositions of this
Manner early date are already full of the most
of Com- extraordinary and unusual combinations,
posing though even the most striking of these

sound inevitable and original, appearing
everywhere quite naturally and almost naively. "Brahms
stands almost alone in striking at once his characteristic
keynote. From the very first there was no trace of uncer-
tainty or of imitation. His very individuality, however,
prevented general recognition. For years his works
gathered dust on the shelves of his publishers ; only gradu-
ally did they find their way into the concert room."

The early part of 1854 was spent in correcting proof-
sheets ; then followed a visit of several weeks to Liszt

at Weimar, and a few concerts with Joachim
The and Stockhausen, the singer (who became

Period of an intimate and life-long friend of Brahms).
Growth During these spring months Hanover was

Brahms' headquarters ; in early summer he
started on a vacation trip through the Black Forest,
but was seized with an unaccountable fit of home-
sickness and turned back at Ulm.

In July the Neue Berliner Musikal-Zeitung printed a
careful and discriminating review of Op. 3, and about
the same time came two offers of positions, one from
the Rhenish Conservatory at Cologne, the other from
the Prince of Lippe-Detmold. He rejected the first
because it would take too much of his time, but

24

Biographical

accepted the second because it would give him ample
leisure for study and composition. It did more than this
in that it brought him into contact with cultivated men
and women and greatly increased his experience in the
handling of choral masses.

His duties at Detmold consisted in giving lessons
to some members of the ducal family and directing a
small chorus and orchestra. This work occupied the
winter months only, and left the greater part of the
year free. He remained here for two years, then
resigned and went back to Hamburg, where he was
near his parents, who still lived at the old home on
the Fuhlentwiete. This was his residence during the
years from 1856 to 1862.

When Schumann died, in 1856, Brahms, with Joachim
and Dietrich, walked behind the coffin to the grave.
In the dark hours of her grief, Brahms was
the energetic friend and counsellor and de- Schu-

fender of Madame Schumann, who was mann's
often sorely pressed and in need of a Death

faithful adviser. In her sorrow she re-
proached herself with not having restrained Schumann
in his ruinous mania for hard work, and it fell largely
upon Brahms to act as comforter.

He regarded her as the noblest of her sex, saying
once to a friend, "When you have written anything,
ask yourself whether such a woman as Madame Schu-
mann could read it with pleasure. If you doubt that,
then cross out what you have written." Their friend-

25

Brah

ms

ship was most intimate and beautiful (Brahms loved
her with almost filial devotion) — they always addressed
each other by their Christian names — and in every
way their relations were practically those of mother and
son (Madame Schumann was thirteen years Brahms'
senior). Through his entire life it was his habit to
spend the three summer months near her, and in
1880 Hanslick wrote: "None of Mme. Schumann's
children is as young as she is. Brahms is cultivating
a patriarchal beard with the hope of passing for her
father." They worked for each other, and no doubt
loved each other in a strictly platonic way. It is here,
probably, that one must look for the real reason why
Brahms never married.

In May 1856 he gave a concert at Cologne, and was
censured for including in his programme so dull a work
as Bach's " Chromatic Fantasia." He spent
Op. 10 the summer at Bonn, according to Deiters,

appears who met him there. This year Breitkopf &
Hartel published Op. 10, " Four Ballades
for Piano" (dedicated to Julius Otto Grimm). The
First Ballade owed its origin to the Scotch ballad,
"Edward," from Herder's "Stimmen der Volker," and
the others were probably inspired by similar causes.

In December 1857 Brahms accepted two engage-
ments at the Gewandhaus, Leipsic, and took part in
the performance of Mendelssohn's Concerto and Beeth-
oven's Triple Concerto. In January 1859 he played at
the Gewandhaus his First Piano Concerto in D minor

26

Biographical

(Op. 15), which was severely criticised. The audience
listened in pure bewilderment, waiting in
vain for the virtuoso passages. The Leipziger First

Signalen called it a " Symphony with Piano- Piano

forte Obligato, in which the solo part is as Concerto
ungrateful as possible, and the orchestral
part a series of lacerating chords." In truth, Brahms had
turned over a new leaf in the history of the concerto-
form, and the Leipzigers could not comprehend it.
This concerto, which is one of the grandest of
Brahms' youthful compositions, was originally sketched
as a sonata for two pianos, the slow Scherzo of which
was afterwards used as the Funeral March in the
" German Requiem." Brahms shortly afterwards took
the concerto to Hamburg, where it was most favourably
received. It consists of a passionate first movement, an
adagio and a rondo.

The Serenade in D (Op. 11) was given in Hamburg,
March 28, 1859, and, later in the year, the Serenade in
A (Op. 16), in its first, unrevised form.
The Trio for Piano, Violin and 'Cello, Serenades
(Op. 8), was published by Breitkopf & and Trio
Hartel in 1859, and performed the next
year in New York by Theodore Thomas, violin ;
Bergmann, 'cello; and William Mason, piano. It
was revised and simplified, and republished in
1891.

In 1 860, after six years of absolute silence (except
for Op. 8, which, though published in 1859, was written

27

Brahms

several years before), Brahms published two new and
splendid compositions, which did much to
More New establish his reputation ; these were the
Composi- Serenades referred to above, the first in D
tions (Op. 1 1), for Full Orchestra, the second in A

(Op. 1 6), for Small Orchestra. Completed
about the same time as these, but published in 1861,
were : —

Op. 12, "Ave Maria," for Female Chorus, Orches-
tra and Organ.
Op. 13, "Funeral Hymn," for Mixed Chorus and

Wind Orchestra.
Op. 14, "Eight Songs and Romances," for Solo

Voice with Piano accompaniment.
Op. 15, "First Concerto in D minor," for Piano-
forte and Orchestra.
The years of silence had been spent in serious study,
and these new works displayed a remarkable increase
of artistic power and conviction, as well as
Advance a great gain in purity of style and clearness
over Partner oi expression. The Serenades were ambi-
Work tious and masterly works ; the " Funeral

Hymn," to words beginning "Nun lasst
uns den Leib begraben " (Now let us bury the body),
was a true forerunner of the "German Requiem."
Besides the above-mentioned works, Brahms had also
written a Choral Mass in canon form, which has never
been published.

Brahms remained in Hamburg until after the publica-
28

Biographical

tion of the Serenades, in i860, then went to Winterthur,
in Switzerland, and spent the winter near
his friend, Kirchner, teaching, concertising Visit to

and writing, returning north for the summer, Switzer-
which he spent at Hamm, a suburb of Ham- land

burg, about half an hour's ride from the city.
In the fall he went again to Winterthur, and the suc-
ceeding summer (1862) again to Hamm.

In 1 86 1 were completed the "Variations on a Theme
by Handel " (Op. 24), for Piano, and the " Marien-
lieder " (Op. 22), for Full Chorus, both pub-
lished in 1862. The " Handel Variations," "• Hdndel
consisting of twenty-five variations and a Variations'^
fugue by way of wind-up, have been de- and^'Mari-
scribed as a chef-d'oeuvre of modern piano enlieder"
music. The " Marienlieder " are a number
of old German songs relating to the worship of the
Virgin.

During the two summers that Brahms spent at
Hamm he resided at the house of Frau Dr Ehzabeth
Rosing, to whom he afterwards dedicated
his A major Quartet (Op. 26). There was Ladies'

a charming ladies' quartet next door who Quartet
used to sing his " Songs for Four Voices "
(Op. 17). Brahms had met them at a wedding where
he was playing the organ, and asked them to practise
his "Ave Maria," which he had just completed. They
sang the "Songs for Four Voices " upon their concert
tours, and notably at the great Rhenish Musical Festival

29

Brahms

at Diisseldorf, to a large gathering of musicians, Brahms,
Stockhausen and Joachim among the number.

This quartet was the nucleus of a small Ladies'
Choral Society which Brahms conducted during the two
summers at Hamm, and for which he composed many
pieces and arranged much old Italian church music. In
the fall the rehearsals ended with a small performance
in the Petrikirche.

Through Kirchner's introduction, Brahms found a
circle of warm admirers in Switzerland. In fact, ex-
cepting Hamburg, Switzerland was probably the first
seat of a genuine Brahms cult. But when, in the fall of
1862, Kirchner removed to Ziirich, Winterthur lost its
charm for Brahms, and he did not return.

Of course there was more or less travelling during
these years — Brahms was always a great traveller — and
an occasional concert tour. During the
Oldenburg winter of 1861-1862 there was a tour, in the
course of which he played at Hanover —
where he remained some weeks — Bremen, Oldenburg,
— where he, Joachim and another friend were sponsors
for Dietrich's first child. Max Hermann Carl — and
other cities. At the Oldenburg concert a laurel wreath
had been hung over Brahms' chair by an admirer. When
he came upon the stage to play, Brahms quietly removed
the wreath and laid it under the piano, upon the floor.

During the year 1861 he arranged several Schubert
songs for orchestra for his friend Stockhausen, and this
year were published by Simrock : —

30

Biographical

Op. 20, "Three Duets for Soprano and Alto," with

Piano accompaniment.
Op. 21 (for Piano) —

No. I, "Variations (11 in number) on Original

Theme in D."
No. 2, "Variations (13 and Finale) on a Hun-
garian Theme in D." (This theme is in the
unusual seven-four rhythm).
In June 1862 Brahms again attended the Rhenish
Musical Festival at Diisseldorf, and went thence with
Dietrich to Miinster-am-Stein, near Kreuz-
nach, to be near the Schumanns, remaining Miinster-
two weeks. They resided at the foot of the am-Stein
Ebernberg, and worked industriously every
morning, the afternoons and evenings being given up to
excursions and to " making music." Brahms here com-
posed the first two books of the " Magelonen Lieder,"
and showed Dietrich the first movement of the First
Symphony, in somewhat different form, however, from
that in which it eventually appeared (in 1876). He
also presented Dietrich with a MS. copy of the Second
Piano Sonata, very neatly written, with a dedication.
Dietrich says of him at this time: —
" His disposition is as amiable and cheerful as full of
depths of seriousness. He frequently teases
the ladies by making joking assertions in Great

such a grave manner that Madame Schumann Teaser

particularly takes them quite seriously, which
gives rise to most amusing discussions, causing him

31

Brah

ms

often to be misunderstood. . . . He must be rather un-
comfortable for ladies indulging in sentimental moods ;
but that does not prevent his being very serious and
quiet when it suits the occasion."

The stay at Miinster over, there followed a long trip
to Speyer, Carlsruhe, and other places of interest. In
this year (1862) the Second Serenade (in A) was given
in New York : Brahms thought this was the first per-
formance since publication.

In the fall of this year came another concert tour,
beginning at Carlsruhe, where he played his Piano
Concerto, and was recalled; then Basle,
Oldenburg Zurich, Mannheim, Cologne and Olden-
again burg. This tour was most successful. The

Christmas holidays were spent at Detmold,
the Oldenburg concert following early in January 1863.
The night before the concert, after the rehearsal, Brahms
played the " Handel Variations " for the members of
the orchestra, who were delighted with it. " The fugue,"
one writes, "is perfectly fascinating." At the concert
the Concerto and the Horn Trio (Op. 40) were received
with enthusiasm, largely due, no doubt, to Dietrich's
" campaign of education " and known partisanship.

Brahms remained for a short visit with the Diet-

richs, by whom he was very much loved and

Affaire du honoured. Dietrich calls him " the pleas-

Cceur antest visitor imaginable — always amiable

and unassuming, always in good spirits." It

was during this visit that he was very much attracted

32

Biographical

by a young lady who frequented the Dietrichs' house.
One evening he said, after she had left, " I like her ; I
should like to marry her; such a girl could make me
happy."

In 1862 appeared the following works, published by
Simrock : —

Op. 17, "Part Songs for Female Chorus," with
two Horns and Harp. Op. 18, "First Sextet" in
B fiat for Strings. Op. 19, "Five Poems,"
for Solo Voice with Piano. The " Handel Publica-
Variations " (Op. 24) and the " Marien- tions of
lieder " (Op. 22) were brought out the 1862

same year by Rieter- Biedermann. The
B flat Sextet is the most significant piece of
chamber music since the death of Beethoven. The
"Handel Variations" are reviewed at length in
the Allgemeijie Musikalische Zeiiung for September 9,
1863.

Brahms' eyes had for some time been turning
toward Vienna as a place of residence. At length,
when the Winterthur ties were broken, he took the
decisive step. This may have been hastened by the
failure of a plan to elect him Director of the Ham-
burg Philharmonic Society ; at any rate he wrote
to Dietrich, " I am as happy as a child at the
thought." There seems to be some difiference of
opinion as to the exact date of this change of resid-
ence, but, inasmuch as the fall of the year 1862 was
given up to the concert tour just spoken of, it can-

Brah

ms

not well have been before January 1863, the date which
Dietrich gives. However, the decision may have
been reached early in the fall of 1862, for, on Nov-
ember 16, Brahms played at a Hellmesberger
concert the piano part of his G minor Quartet
(Op. 25). There was no question as to his merit
as a pianist, but as a composer — that was different.
The Blatter fiir Theater- Musik uftd Kunst (November
21, 1862) said : —

" We do not propose to condemn Herr Brahms alto-
gether until we have heard more of his work, but the
present specimen will not induce the Vien-
Unfavour- nese people to accept him as a composer.
able Re- The first three movements are gloomy, ob-
ception in scure, and ill-developed ; the last is simply
Vienna an offence against the laws of style. There
is neither precedent nor excuse for intro-
ducing into chamber music a movement entirely con-
ceived in the measure of a national dance, and it is much
to be regretted that Herr Brahms should have departed
in this matter from the example set by Beethoven and
Schubert."

This critique is valuable rather as a curiosity than as
an example of serious criticism, for it is not only in-
accurate but also unjust. But Brahms was
New simply undergoing the same treatment as

Friends had fallen to the lot of Vienna's other great
adopted musical sons — Mozart, Beethoven
and Schubert — who had been abused, underrated, and

34

Biographical

allowed to starve. True, the shining lights of the Vien-
nese musical world — Robert Volkmann, Goldmark,
Bruckner, and Ignaz Briill — received him with open
arms, but the critics and the public for the most part
neither appreciated nor accepted him.

On November 23 the Serenade in A was given at a
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde concert, and because
of its lighter character it scored a success.
On November 29 the A major Quartet The Ice
(Op. 26) was given, and was much more melts

favourably received than the G minor ; and
in December 1863 opposition was silenced by a mag-
nificent performance, under Hellmesberger, of the B fiat
Sextet. Even the Blatter said : —

" The opening movement is a walk in spring, when
the sky is cloudless and the flowers are blooming in the
hedgerows. The second represents a gipsy
encampment — dark-eyed maidens whisper- A Complete
ing secrets, and, afar off, the subdued tinkle Success

of the mandolin. The third is a rustic
dance ; and the fourth — well, we suppose the fourth
must mean the journey home."

Needless to say, the description is entirely apocryphal,
but the spirit of approbation instead of abuse at least is
good to see.

Late in 1862 Wagner established himself at Penzing,
and he and Brahms often met on neutral ground, but
never became intimate. The latter lived for some time
at the Deutschen Hause in the Singer Strasse, where

35

Brahms

he was the centre of an ever-widening circle of friends
and admirers. " His quiet voice, undemon-
Personal strative manner, kindly disposition that
Popularity showed itself in a thousand services, upright
honesty that never stooped even to con-
quer,"— these qualities soon won him personal popularity.

He introduced himself as a soloist in a concert made up
of Bach's, Beethoven's, Schumann's, and his own works,
making his greatest impression in Schumann's
Birthday ^^ Fantaisie" (Op. 17), and his own " Handel
Gift Variations." After spending the winter here

in Vienna, he returned home to spend his
birthday with his parents. The Viennese publisher,
Spina, made him a birthday gift of all of Schubert's
works, a kindness which Brahms very much appreciated.

Part of this summer was spent at Blankensee, on the
Elbe, two hours from Hamburg, followed by a short stay
at Carlsruhe, a farewell trip to Hamburg, then back to
Vienna in August, to act as Chorus-master at the Sing-
Akademie — a position which he had accepted during
the summer. In this he was most successful, preparing
a memorable performance of Bach's " Passion Music."

That he had not as yet lost that "other genius ... of
modesty," of which Schumann wrote in 1853, is attested
by a letter which he wrote to Dietrich before entering
upon his duties in Vienna. (Dietrich was by this time
a successful conductor with nearly ten years' experience
behind him.) The letter ran, in part : —

" I should much like to ask you to give me some
36

Biographical

information that will be of use to me there. At hap-
hazard, because I do not really know what
to ask you, and am extremely shy of making Asks

my first attempt in this line at Vienna of all Advice

places." He goes on to speak of Handel's
"Alexander's Feast "and of Bach's " Christmas Oratorio,"
and asks for copies, if possible, orchestrated, with or
without organ.

There was a " Brahms concert " given at the Sing-
Akademie on April 17, 1864, and early in May he
was unanimously re-elected, but resigned in
July, for the reason that he wanted to be Leaves

free from even this restraint. His relations ike Sing-
with the Akademie were entirely agreeable, Akademie
for he wrote shortly before resigning : " Both
Academy and orchestra give me much pleasure." For
a time he was very undecided whether or not to remain
in Vienna, but the superior advantages of the city on
the Danube won the day, and he settled there for the
remainder of his life.

In this connection it might be well to speak of a life-
long habit of Brahms' — that of roaming at will. He
was in the habit of taking frequent long journeys, afoot
or by rail, and would remain at his leisure in any town
which might suit his fancy, or which was quiet enough
for hard work. So that, while he always returned to
Vienna, it was not at all certain that he was to be
found there at any particular time.

This year, 1863, had witnessed the triumph of
37

Brahms

Brahms in Vienna after a chilling reception ; it also
witnessed the publication of several import-
Schuman7i ant works. Op. 23, " Variations (ten in
Four-hand number) on a Theme by Schumann," for
Varia- Piano, was brought out by Rieter-Bieder-

tions mann. This work, dedicated to Julie

Schumann, was built upon a theme taken
from Schumann's last work, which Schumann in his
derangement thought that the spirits of Schubert and
Mendelssohn had brought to him. (He had jotted
down the theme, and later, in a lucid interval, written
some variations upon it, had been seized with another
attack, but, as soon as he was better, had gone back
and finished them. This composition is not to be
found among the published works of Schumann.) ^

Simrock published in 1863 : —

Op. 25, " First Quartet " in G minor, for Piano, Violin,

Viola and 'Cello, dedicated to Baron Rein-

Publica- hard von Dalwigk ; and Op. 26, "Second

tions of Quartet " in A major for Piano, Violin, Viola

1863 and 'Cello, dedicated to Frau Dr Elizabeth

Rosing.

In the spring of 1864 were finished the following
works, which were published during the year: —

Op. 27, "13th Psalm" (How long wilt Thou forget
me, O Lord), for Three-part Female Chorus and Organ.

' "On February 27, 1854, while Brahms visited Schumann at
Diisseldorf, Schumann suddenly left the table to go out upon the
Rhinebridge, without hat or overcoat, and threw himself into the
river. Upon his desk lay this theme." — Ehlert, /rw// the " Tone-
World:'

38

Biographical

This is really sacred music : Brahms may have had
in mind when he wrote it some idea of a church
performance. (All previous biographers give the title
of this work as the 23rd Psalm, but the
words are certainly those of the 13th.) Op. New

28, " Four Duets for Alto and Baritone," Works of
with Piano accompaniment, dedicated to 1864

Madame Amalie Joachim. Op. 29, "Two
Motets " for Five-part Chorus, a capella^ in the poly-
phonic style of Bach. Op. 30, "Sacred Song" of Paul
Flemming ("Lass dich nur nichts dauern") for Four-
part Mixed Chorus with Organ or Piano accompaniment.
In this composition Brahms works out a double-canon
in the voice parts to an independent accompaniment.
Op. 31, "Three Quartets for Solo Voices," with Piano.
Op. 32, "Nine Songs " (words by Aug. von Platen and
G. F. Daumer), for Solo Voice and Piano.

The next five years were to a great extent years of
wandering. Fortune was not as yet beaming with any
alluring warmth upon Brahms, so that he
wrote, in declining an invitation to visit hnpudent
North Germany, " My purse has always an Purse

impudent word to say." But walking at
least was cheap, and there were occasional concert tours
to take him farther afield, so that some of his biographers
have assumed that he had temporarily given up his
residence in Vienna ; but such was not the case.

In 1864 appeared one of Brahms' two compositions
for the organ, the Fugue in C flat, published without

39

Brah

ms

Opus number in No. 29 of the Aligefneine Miisikalische
Zeitung as a Musical Supplement. This fugue is per-
haps the most perfect example of Brahms'
Organ skill in uniting old-school severity with the

Fugue and greatest warmth of sentiment. Rieter-
Folk-songs Biedermann also brought out a collection
of fourteen "German Folk-songs," arranged
for Four-part Chorus for the Sing-Akademie, to whom
it was dedicated.

In passing, it might be well to refer to another
similar work of Brahms', the " Volks-Kinderlieder "
(Folk-songs for Children), traditional tunes,
" Volks- dedicated to the children of Robert and
Kinder- Clara Schumann, and published (without
lieder" the name of the author) by Rieter-Bieder-
mann in 1858. There are fourteen of them,
and they have become widely popular.

In March 1865 the "A major Quartet" was given
at Leipsic, with Madame Schumann at the piano and
David to lead the strings. This year Brahms
Another paid a long visit to Kirchner at Ziirich,
Concert during which time he gave some concerts.
Tour notably one at Winterthur, in which he was

assisted by Kirchner and Fr. Hegar, the
Zurich violinist, followed in the fall by a triumphant
concert tour through Mannheim, Cologne (where he
conducted the "D major Serenade"), Carlsruhe (where
he played sonatas with Joachim), and Oldenburg.

That Brahms had really "arrived" is evident from
40

Biographical

the increasing respect with which the critics regarded
him. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung
(published at Charlottenburg), the leading '■'Arrived^'
German musical paper, from 1863 on treated at Last
him with a respect that no other con-
temporary composer either merited or received.

The year 1865 witnessed the publication of the first
two parts of the Romances from Tieck's fairy tale, Die
Schone Magelone (Op. 11), (the other three
parts appearing in 1868). These poems, The

fifteen in number, called for a more ex- Magelone
tended setting than the usual lied or song, Lieder

but Brahms so rose to the occasion that
this work marks the perfection of his lyric art. It is
dedicated to Julius Stockhausen, the singer, and Brahms'
intimate friend.

In this year appeared also the "Quintet" (Op. 34),
for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and 'Cello, dedicated to
H.R. H. Princess Anne of Hesse, and pub-
lished by Rieter-Biedermann. This com- Piano
position was finished before Brahms came Quintet
to Vienna in 1863, but in the form of a
String Quintet (two 'Celli) ; it was afterwards arranged
as a "Sonata for two Pianos," in which
form it was published in 1872 as Op. 34, Switzer-
No. 2. land

In October 1866 there was a short tour again

with Joachim through German Switzerland,
touching at SchafThausen, Winterthur, Zurich, among

41

Brahms

other places, and they were everywhere greeted by
enthusiastic audiences. The tour ended in November
and Brahms returned to Vienna.

Brahms suffered a severe blow earUer in the year in
the death of his mother at an advanced age. This
event inspired his masterpiece, the " German
Death of Requiem," which was begun and carried far
Frau along toward completion this summer in

Brahms Switzerland. (One writer expresses the
opinion that the " Requiem " was inspired
by the events of the Austro-Prussian War (1866), but
the fact that Brahms was probably at work on it before
the war had begun, and that no other authority mentions
this as the source of inspiration — to say nothing of the
fact that he was a North German who never lost his
patriotism, and would have been more likely to write
a song of triumph over the success of Prussia — seems
to establish the former as the unquestionable first
cause). Fuller Maitland suggests that the work
was probably the outcome of both events, the later
choruses being more especially influenced by his
mother's death.

In the fall of this year (1866), in company with
Madame and Marie Schumann, he paid a visit to
Oldenburg. Dietrich, to whom we are
Brahms' indebted for so many details about the
'^ Bride'' personality of Brahms, says of this visit,
" The old humour and delight in teasing
are still there. Even the breakfast-hour was interest-

42

Biographical

ing, and, thanks to Brahms' high spirits, merry." It
was for years his habit in his letters to Dietrich to
refer to the latter's Httle daughter, Clara, as his " bride,"
and the son, Max, as his " brother-in-law."

In the year 1866 were published Op. 36, "Second
Sextet," for Strings; and Op. 38, "Sonata for Piano
and Violoncello" in E minor, dedicated
to Dr Josef Gausbacher. Op. 35, " Studies Publica-
for Pianoforte (Variations, twenty-eight in tions of
number, on a Theme by Paganini)." Op. 1866

37, "Three Sacred Choruses" (to Latin
words), for Female Voices, a capella. These choruses
are most austere in style, suggesting Palestrina's manner.
Op. 44, " Twelve Songs and Romances " for Female
Chorus, a capella (Piano ad libitum).

In January 1867 Hellmesberger led the first per-
formance of the G major Sextet (Op. 36), which was
received with delight. In March, Brahms
gave a recital at which the recently-com- Neiv

pleted "Paganini Variations" (Op. 35) were Triumphs
enthusiastically received. As an encore he
played the Finale from Beethoven's "Third Rasoum-
offsky Quartet." In April there was a second recital,
in which, as in the former, he played but few of his
own works, as usual. Later in April there were two
concerts at Pesth ; and early in the summer appeared
"Five Songs for Four-part Male Chorus," a capella
(Op. 41), (usually known as the ^^ Soldatenlieder"). Later
in the year appeared Op. 39, " Four-hand Piano

43

Brah

ms

Waltzes " (sixteen in all), dedicated to Dr Eduard Hans-
lick, the great Viennese critic and friend of Brahms.

Brahms' residence was now at No. 6 Post Strasse,
from which place he set out, late in the spring, on a
short pleasure trip with his father to Upper
Brahms Austria, through Styria and Salzburg, then
on a to Hamburg. Brahms' enjoyment of this

Pleasure trip can be imagined when we are told
Trip that hitherto his father had never seen a

mountain, and had hardly ever left Ham-
burg. Brahms spent the summer at Oldenburg and
Ziirich, visiting friends, and returned again to Hamburg
for a short visit before going back to Vienna.

It was during this summer that he first grew a beard
— an accession with which he shortly dispensed. How-
ever, he again grew one about 1881, giving
Brahms' as his reason, " A clean-shaven man is
Beard taken for an actor or a priest." He never

again removed it ; in fact he took a certain
naive pleasure in his personal appearance, referring with
pride to the fact that his portrait had been selected as
the type of the Caucasian race in a standard work on
Ethnology.

In November, Joachim assisted in some recitals in

and about Gratz, in Styria, at the first of which Brahms

played the " E flat minor Scherzo " and

Gratz the " Handel Variations." Heuberger, who

here saw him for the first time, describes

him as "a blonde and slender man," and adds that

44

Biographical

his music sounded to him — and to most of the
audience, no doubt — "confused and uninteUigible."
He was known chiefly through his arrangement of the
chorale melody, "/« the Stillness of the Night." Only
a small portion of his original work was known, and
then only by the musically elect. The "B flat Sextet"
and " B major Trio " had been tried over timidly.

December i, 1867, is an important date in the life of
Brahms, for on that date were given to the public
the first three numbers of the " German
Requiem " at a Gesellschaft concert, and hnporiant
were received with a storm of theological Event

criticism, because the composer had de-
parted from the beaten track and had dared to select
his words fur himself from the Bible. The "Requiem,"
except for the fifth chorus, which was not written until
the summer of 1868, had been ready for performance
in the previous spring, so Herbeck, the Gesellschaft
conductor, arranged to give the first half as above
stated. The first performance of the entire work (as
completed at this time) was not brought about until
the next year in Bremen.

The chief event of the year 1868, if not the most
important of his whole life to Brahms, was the per-
formance in Bremen Cathedral on Good
Friday, April 10, of the " German Requiem " " German
(Op. 45), under the direction of Reinthaler. Requiem "
On the way Brahms had stopped at Olden-
burg, where he bad given a concert on April 4. playing

45

Brah

ms

the "Handel Variations" and the Schumann "Con-
certo." His father came from Hamburg especially to
hear the " Requiem," and Brahms' cup would have been
full but for one thing. " Only Madame Schumann will
now be wanting; but I shall miss her presence sadly,"
he had been heard to say. The word was communi-
cated to her, and she came from Baden-Baden to sur-
prise him, walking into the Cathedral on his arm on
the day of the performance.

Never had the Cathedral been so full — the audience
numbered 2000 persons — never had enthusiasm been

so great. The effect of the performance
Great En- was overwhelming ; and it became evident
thusiasm at once that the "Requiem " ranked among

the loftiest music ever given to the world.
At this performance the fifth number, for Soprano Solo
and Chorus, was not yet in existence, so Madame
Joachim sang, " I know that my Redeemer liveth,"
and Joachim played Schumann's "Abendlied."

The work, as completed, has seven numbers : two
baritone solos with chorus, a soprano solo with chorus,

and four separate choruses. It has nothing
Opening in common with liturgical requiems, having
Chorus to do with death and eternity, consolation
and Second for the mourner, closing with a song of
Number victory over death and the grave. The

opening chorus, " Blessed are they that
mourn," is particularly noticeable for the richness of
its accompaniment. In the second number, a " Funeral

46

Biographical

March," the composer graphically portrays the measured
tread of the cortege by the use of triple rhythm (f),
cutting loose from ordinary methods, and, by the use
of legitimate musical processes, achieving what others
strive after by sensuous or purely imitative means.
The chorus sings the words, " Behold all flesh is as
grass," partly in unison with the strange and impressive
orchestral music ; the movement closes with a long
fugue, " The redeemed of the Lord shall return again."
The third number, " Lord, make me to know the
measure of my days," opens with a Baritone solo,
followed by two choral fugues, solid but
difficult, calling for a chorus of unusual dis- Remaining
cipline and intelligence, the second being Numbers
developed upon an uninterrupted pedal
point into a grand fugue. The fourth number, a
Chorus, " How lovely is Thy dwelling-place," is in strik-
ing contrast, being a very melodious slow movement.
The fifth (this is the number that Fuller Maitland
attributes especially to the influence of Frau Brahms'
death), for Soprano Solo and Chorus ("As one whom his
own mother comforteth, so will I comfort you "), shows
the composer's melodious attractiveness and unusual
power as a song-writer. In the next number, for Chorus
with Baritone Solo responses, " Here on earth we have
no continuing place," the resurrection of the dead is
depicted in fugal passages of tremendous power and
difficulty, the climax of the entire work, closing with a
brilliant double fugue in C major on the words, " Lord,

47

Brahms

Thou art worthy." After the storm, the calm in the
finale, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,"
containing a reminiscence of the opening number, with
harp accompaniment, and closing the work in a gentle
but deeply serious strain.

After the performance there was a gathering of
Brahms' friends, to the number of more than a hundred,
at the old Rathskeller. Among those pre-
Brahms' sent were, of course, Brahms and his father,
Gathering Madame and Marie Schumann, the Rein-
thalers and the Joachims ; also the Stock-
hausens, the Grimms, the Dietrichs, Max Bruch,
Richard Barth — all intimate friends of Brahms — Rieter-
Biedermann, who came from Switzerland, and after-
wards published the "Requiem," and others from a dis-
tance, one coming even from England. There was a quiet
celebration, culminating in a toast to Brahms by the hero
of the day, Reinthaler, the conductor who had made the
success possible, and a final toast to Reinthaler by Brahms.

The "Requiem" was repeated April 27, but not in

the Cathedral; was twice given at Oldenburg under

Dietrich, and went the round of the prin-

Later Per- cipal German cities, exciting general ad-

formances miration and appreciation. It was first

performed in Switzerland and in England in

1873, ^^s given by Theodore Thomas at the Cincinnati

Festival of 1884, and in New York by the Oratorio

Society, under Frank Damrosch, March 24, 1904.

Brahms remained in North Germany for a part of the
4S

Biographica]

summer with the Dietrichs at Oldenburg. One day,
on a pleasure trip to Wilhelmshafen, where
he was very anxious to see the shipyards, he Inspiration
was very serious — a most unusual thing,
for he was generally the life of the party — and appeared
deeply moved by Holderlin's " Song of Destiny," which
he had read for the first time early that morning. Later
in the day he was discovered sitting alone by the sea,
writing furiously the first sketches for his setting of the
poem, which appeared soon after, Brahms hurrying to
Hamburg to complete the work. Later in the summer
he made a prolonged stay at Bonn, where he at-
tended to the publication of the "Requiem," finished
" Rinaldo," and wrote many songs.

One who met him in 1865 describes him as follows :
— "By his personal appearance and powerful playing
(far different from purely technical display)
he gave the impression of strong personality. Strong

His short, square figure, almost sandy hair, Personality
protruding lower lip (giving a cynical expres-
sion to his beardless and youthful face) were all striking
and hardly prepossessing ; yet the total impression was
of consummate strength, both physical and moral. His
broad chest, Herculean shoulders, powerful head thrown
back energetically when playing, fine thoughtful brow
shining as with inward light, Teutonic eyes with won-
derful fiery glance — softened only by fair eyelashes —
all betrayed an artistic personality replete with the spirit
of true genius."

D 49

Brahms

This year witnessed the publication of no less than
eight works, the list including Op. 40, " Trio for Piano,
Violin and Waldhorn " (or 'Cello or Viola),
Publica- in E fiat. (This "Horn Trio," as it is
tions of familiarly known, is replete with originality
1868 and romanticism: the theme of the first

movement came to Brahms on the wooded
heights above Baden-Baden.) Op. 46, "Four Songs,"
for One Voice with Piano. Op. 47, "Five Songs,"
for One Voice with Piano. Op. 48, "Seven Songs,"
for One Voice with Piano. Op. 49) "Five Songs,"
for One Voice with Piano. (These four numbers
(Op. 46, 47, 48, 49) were published together in Oc-
tober.) Op. 42, "Three Songs," for Six-part Mixed
Chorus, a capella. The " German Requiem " (Op. 45),
and "Four Songs" (Op. 43), for One Voice with
Piano.

Brahms had now reached his full growth. The
struggle for acknowledgment was over, the victory won,

and he was henceforth regarded as the
Full Frui- greatest living German composer, with the
tioti (1869- possible exception of Wagner. His time,
1897) except for the period from 1872 to 1875,

was now spent entirely in composing and
editing masterpieces, with an occasional short tour to
play or direct his own compositions.

In 1869 two concert tours were projected — one to
Holland, the other to Russia, but neither was carried
out. This summer was spent at Lichtenthal, near

so

Biographical

Baden-Baden, where Madame Schumann had her home
for many years. It had been his habit, and continued
so until her death, to spend the whole or a part of
each summer near her : during the succeeding years he
seldom went to North Germany. (Dietrich this year
brought out a Symphony, which he dedicated to
Brahms.)

The published works of this year include three Opus
numbers, as follows : —

Op. 50, " Rinaldo," Cantata for Tenor

Solo, Male Chorus, and Orchestra. Works of
(Goethe's poem is derived from an 1869

episode in Tasso's Jerusalem De-
livered.)
Op. 52, " Liebesiieder {Love Song) Waltzes," for
Piano, Four Hands, and Voices ad lib (verses
from Daumer's Polydora.)
Op. 52A, ditto for Piano, Four Hands (without
Voice parts).
These "Waltzes," eighteen in number, were a
departure from the traditional dance music, in that
Brahms has written four -part vocal parts
to accompany the dance, just as the ^^ Liebes-
dancers have been in the habit, from lieder

time out of mind, of singing an im- IVallzes"
promptu accompaniment as they dance.
"They are as dainty as Strauss and as melodious
as Schubert."

Two compositions without Opus number were an
51

Brahms

important contribution to piano literature, namely, the
"6tude after Chopin," and "Rondo after
Hungarian Weber." This year also were brought out
Dances the first two books of the most popular of

Brahms' works, the " Hungarian Dances,"
for Piano, Four Hands. (The third and fourth books
appeared in 1880.) These "Dances" are national
melodies by Hungarian composers, arranged by Brahms,
and completed in 1867. The composers of the original
melodies are named in the AUgemeine Musikalische
Zettung, 1874, page 348. The authorship of these
dances gave rise to an idle controversy and attack upon
Brahms, but entirely without reason, as the title-page
bears no Opus number, and distinctly declares that they
were " Arranged by J. Brahms." He arranged the first
set for Orchestra as well.

In January 1870 appeared the "Rhapsodic" (Frag-
ment from Goethe's Harzreise im Winter), for Alto
Solo, Male Chorus and Orchestra (Op. 53).
'' Rhapso- This work and " Rinaldo " are the finest
die'' Male Choruses in existence. The "Rhap-

sodic" Brahms regarded as the truest ex-
pression of his deepest feelings, and (it is said) loved
it so much that he laid it under his pillow at night to
have it always near him (though that doesn't sound
much like Brahms). In February he sent a copy to
Dietrich, with the words, " I am sending you my
' Rhapsodic ' ; the conductors will not exactly fight
for the Opus, but it will perhaps be a satisfaction to

52

Biographical

you to see that I do not always write in such frivolous
time as f " (referring to the " Liebeslieder Waltzes "), and
adds, " I am having a luxurious musical time here,
Rubinstein, Meistersinger, and what not ! "

On January 20, 187 1, for the first time in twelve
years, Brahms played the "D minor Concerto" before
a Viennese audience, at a Philharmonic
Society Concert, and this time it was re- Pianoforte
ceived with acclamation — the critics and Concerto
the public had grown up to it. Dr Helm succeeds in
said of it at this time, " It is the most Vienna

original production of its composer, except
the 'German Requiem,' and the most genial (!) com-
position of its kind since the days of Beethoven."

On Good Friday the " Requiem " (now complete)
was given again at Bremen Cathedral, together with
the " Hallelujah " (first chorus from the
"Triumphlied," Op. 55). The effect of New

the latter composition was overwhelming Master-
and grand. Later in the year, at Carls- pieces

ruhe, occurred the first performance of the
"Schicksalslied" (Song of Destiny), from Friedr. Hol-
derlin's Hyperion, perhaps the most widely loved of
all Brahms' compositions, and the most perfect of his
smaller choral works.

The " Triumphlied " was given entire at the Dussel-
dorf Musical Festival, and met with enormous success.'

' According to Upton, it was first performed at the 51st Festival
of the Lower Rhine at Cologne in 1873, though this is doubtful, as it
was certainly performed there a year later.

53

Brah

ms

It was inspired by the successes of the German forces
in the Franco-Prussian War, and is dedicated to the
Emperor William I. The words are taken from the 19th
chapter of the Revelation of St John, and
^^ Triumph- the work is set for eight-part Chorus through-
lied" out, except for a few measures for Baritone

solo. It consists of three broadly-planned
choruses : the first, " Hallelujah, Praise the Lord," intro-
duces the German National Hymn, " Heil dir im Sieger-
kranz," and the third, the chorale, " Now thank we all our
God," in the bass; the whole ending with " Hallelujah."
It must have been about this time that an episode
took place of which Heuberger speaks. It seems that
Brahms had been much pleased with the
'■'■ j^sthetic country round about Gratz, in Styria, and
Women" wanted to rent a house for the summer in
the neighbourhood of Gratwein. He found
a place that suited him, and settled down for the sum-
mer, but suddenly left after a few days — literally driven
away, as he explained afterwards, by two very "aesthetic"
women. He could not endure people who showed that
they were running after him.

The published compositions of this year (1871) in-
clude a "Gavotte" (Gliick), dedicated to
Publica- Clara Schumann (without Opus number) ;
tions oj the "Schicksalslied" (Song of Destiny, from
187 1 Holderlin's Hyperion), (Op. 54), for Chorus

and Orchestra, brought out in December;
Op. 57, " Lieder und Gesange," for Solo Voice and

54

Biographical

Piano (the words by G. F. Daumer) ; and Op. 58,
" Lieder und Gesiinge," for Solo Voice with Piano.

In 1872 Brahms accepted the appointment as Director
of the concerts of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde
(Society of the Friends of Music), succeed-
ing Herbeck, who resigned to devote his Gesellschaft
entire time to his duties as Court Capell- der Musik-
meister and Conductor of the Opera. freunde
Brahms gave extraordinary lustre and im-
portance to these concerts by the performances of
the great choral works of Bach and Handel, giving
Handel's "Saul," "Solomon," "Alexander's Feast," the
" Dettingen Te Deum " and the Organ Concerto in D.

At this time he was still, as described by one who
sang under him, " rather delicate, slim-looking, with
a beardless face of ideal expression." As
he afterwards described himself to Wid- Still

mann, " I suppose I did look somewhat Delicate-
like a doubtful candidate for the ministry looking
in those days." The "Triumphlied" was
published this year, as was also a song, without Opus
number, " Mondnacht " (Moonlight), words by Jos.
von Eichendorff.

In 1873 Brahms again visited Oldenburg, and was
still joking about his "bride" (Dietrich's
daughter). The new works of this year Works of
are: — 1873

Op. 51, "Two Quartets," for two Violins,
Viola and 'Cello, dedicated to Dr Theodor Billroth

Brahms

of Vienna. No. i in C minor (in the style of Beeth-
oven) ; No. 2 in A minor (Schubert-like in character).

Op. 56A, " Variations on a Theme by Haydn " (eight
in number), for Orchestra (published in January 1874).

Op. 56B, the same for two Pianos, published in Nov-
ember 1873.

These "Variations for Orchestra" were built on a
theme ("Chorale Sancti Antonii"), from Haydn's
"Divertimento" for Wind Instruments,
" Haydfi and were written during the summer of
Variaiiofis" 1873 ^^ Tutzing, on the Starnberger See.
They were first performed at Vienna on
November 2. This was the first time that "Variations
for Orchestra " had appeared as a separate number.

Op. 59, " Lieder und Gesange," for One Voice with
Piano (including the " Regenlied," the theme of which
Brahms was so fond of that he used it, in altered form,
in the next song, " Nachklange," and in later instru-
mental compositions).

Brahms was accorded an enthusiastic reception early
in 1874 at Leipsic and Munich, and in May at Cologne,
where the " Triumphlied " was on the
Later programme of the Lower Rhenish Music

Successes of Festival. It was also given the same year
" Triumph- at Breslau and Berlin (through the influence
lied" of Stockhausen), and late in the spring at

the Musical Festival in Zurich, under
Hegar, Brahms being present. (He spent nearly all
of that summer at Rueschlikon, near Zurich.)

56

Biographical

He received this year the first of many decorations,
when the King of Bavaria honoured him with the Maxi-
milian Order of Arts and Sciences. It was
on December 29, at Breslau, that Brahms First

first met Max Kalbeck, poet, critic, and his Decoration
future biographer.

This year were published Op. 6x, "Four Duets for
Soprano and Alto " with Piano. Op. 62, " Seven Songs
for Mixed Chorus," a capella. (These
"Deutsche Volkslieder" consist of tunes. Works of
religious and secular, from Meister, Kretsch- 1874

mer and Zuccalmaglio, arranged for four
voices, and dedicated to the Vienna Sing-Akademie.)
Op. 63, " Lieder und Gesange," for One Voice with
Piano. Op. 64, "Quartets for Four Solo Voices and
Piano."

In March 1875 there was a sensational performance
of the "German Requiem " in the great Music Hall in
Vienna, which made Brahms' Viennese fame
secure. This was all the more remarkable '■^ Requietn"
because, only a few days before, Wagner and

had given a performance of fragments from "Ring"
the " Ring," and was, for the time, the centre
of musical interest. Brahms had not planned the
" Requiem " performance as a demonstration against
Wagner, and no one would have predicted its colossal
success, least of all Brahms himself.

This same year the Gesellschaft gave the Bach "St
Matthew Passion " and Bruch's "Odysseus," the latter

57

Brahms

being the last performance under the direction of
Brahms before his resignation took effect.
Last These performances, as well as all the

Gesellschaft others which he directed, went off beautifully.
Concerts Brahms having trained the chorus excellently
and conducted with great earnestness. He
resigned this post for the same reason that he had given
up his position in the Sing-Akademie, in order that he
might have greater leisure. He was succeeded by
Herbeck.

The performance of "Odysseus" took place in the
morning, and was followed by the solemn ceremony
of presenting Brahms with an illuminated
Public address, acknowledging his great achieve-

Ceremony ments as Conductor of the Society, and ex-
pressing the Society's and Chorus's regrets
at his resignation. A local poet delivered a most eulo-
gistic oration, which Brahms, looking very much bored,
merely acknowledged with a "Thank you very much,"
then, taking the folio containing the address under his
arm, walked away. Such official proceedings were ex-
ceedingly distasteful to him. Far more to his liking was
the supper at one of the leading hotels, to which on the
evening of that day a number of friends sat down with
him, and which the presence of ladies made the more
acceptable to the guest of the evening.

This and the two succeeding summers were spent at
Ziegelhausen, near Heidelberg, in his usual retired way,
in a simple country house surrounded by a garden.

5«

Biographical

Only a few friends went in and out : he lived only for his

health and his art, and was often to be seen

walking about for hours at a time in the early Ziegel-

morning lost in thought. Simple and plain hauseti

in his habits, he wished to be free from

all restraints of society and to work and rest in his own

way. For recreation he enjoyed reading fairy tales and

legends in the evenings, and desired his friends to keep

him supplied with them. He always left strict orders

that no one, not even his best friend, was to enter his

room during his absence.

Many tried to get near him, and many invitations
were sent to him, but all were declined. Even noble-
men were treated with scant ceremony when
intruding upon his privacy, though all ser- Popular
vants and children fell captive to the charm with

of his manner toward them. When he went Children
out the village children followed him about,
leaving their games to extend their dirty hands in greet-
ing. He had always a smile and pleasant greeting for
them, and was in the habit of giving them chocolates and
sweets. One day he came home in great good humour,
saying to his landlady, "Just see. Next year I shall be
elected to some office in the parish ; I have become very
popular in Ziegelhausen."

One day Brahms with several friends gave orders to
an innkeeper to have a favourite drink prepared while
they went for a short walk upon the Neckar. The inn-
keeper's wife put the beverage, when completed, aside

59

Brahms

to cool, when a group of Heidelberg students dis-
covered it, and, in spite of all protests,
Students' drank every drop. On their visiting-cards
Prank they wrote humorous verses, and left them

to be given to Brahms on his return. He
laughed heartily at their prank, though his friends did
not relish the joke quite so much.

In February 1876 there was another concert tour,
which took in Miinster (Westphalia), Koblenz, Wies-
baden, and other places. At Wiesbaden
Aristocratic x^'-A^^di the Princess of Hesse-Barchfeld, a
Friends friend and admirer of Brahms, who, after the
concert there, gave a supper, where he was the
guest of honour. This was one of the occasions of this
nature when Brahms was thoroughly happy and animated,
and he joined in a very lively game of billiards afterward
with the utmost enjoyment. Just before leaving, the
Princess presented him with a handsome ebony box, to
the lid of which was attached a laurel wreath of silver,
each leaf of which bore engraved upon it the title of one
of his works. Next morning he played at a musical
matinee at the Princess's house his "String Quartet in
C minor " (Op. 60), with the Frankfort String Quartet.
With the exception of the Princess of Hesse-Barchfeld
and the Landgravine Anne of Hesse (whom he admired
for her simple and modest, yet cordial and affable, man-
ner, no less than for her considerable musical talent),
and, later in life, the Duke and Duchess of Meiningen,
Brahms did not care particularly for personal intercourse

60

Biographical

with the " highest spheres of society," as he called them.

Part of the summer of 1876 was spent at Sassnitz,
island of Riigen, in the Baltic Sea, in company with
Georg Henschel. This was a most happy
time for Brahms. He was very fond of the Sassnifz
sea, being a fine swimmer, and liked to dive
with eyes open for coins or other conspicuous objects
on the sea floor. He would walk about here generally
with waistcoat unbuttoned and hat in hand, always with
spotless linen, but without collar or tie, which he donned
only at iabk d'hote. His healthy, ruddy skin bore wit-
ness to his habit of spending much time in the open air
in all kinds of weather. " His whole appearance — short,
broad-chested, with hair falling almost to the shoulders
— vividly recalled some portraits of Beethoven." His
appetite was excellent (he was always fond of good living),
and it was his habit every evening to drink three glasses
of beer, always finishing with his beloved " Kaffee "
(coffee). Henschel wrote of him : " During all these
days Brahms has never spoken of anything which does
not really interest him, never said anything superfluous
or commonplace, except at table d'hote, where he pur-
posely talks of hackneyed things."

Brahms had changed his place of residence, and lived
now at No. 4 Carlgasse, which remained his place of
abode for many years. On November 4 (1876) the
"First Symphony" (Op. 68) in C minor was given,
from MS., at Carlsruhe.' Brahms had been at work on

' It was performed within the next few months successively at
Stuttgart, Mannheim, and the Gewandhaus in Leipsic.

61

Brah

ms

it for fully ten years, and the cordial reception accorded
it showed that the labour had not been in
First vain. His painstaking care and self-re-

Symphony straint in the creation of this masterpiece
are as commendable as they are unusual.
Imagine a German composer, of all people, waiting
until he was forty-three years old before producing
his first Symphony ! The Symphony, in character
passionate and at times sombre, like the " D minor
Concerto," consists of four movements, and is char-
acterised throughout by a feeling of striving, questioning,
complaining and longing.

The published works of 1875 and 1876 were: —
Op. 60, "Third Quartet" in C minor, for Piano,
Violin, Viola and 'Cello. In the last move-
Works of ment of this " Quartet " Brahms employed

1875 a/i^ the theme of the "Regenlied" (Op. 59,

1876 No. 3). In this composition he was accused
of plagiarism from Mendelssohn's C minor

Trio. One musician who mentioned the accusation to
Brahms received the placid reply : " True, such things
will happen sometimes, even to the best of us ; the pity
only is that every donkey should go and find it out at
once."

Op. 65, " New Liebeslieder Waltzes," for Piano, Four
Hands, and Four Voices. The words for these were
again taken from Daumer's Polydora — there were in all
fourteen waltzes, with Finale in f time.

Op. 66, "Five Duets," for Soprano and Alto with
62

Biographical

Piano. Op. 67, "Quartet No. 3" in B flat, for Two
Violins, Viola and 'Cello, dedicated to Professor Th.
W. Engelmann, of Utrecht, and full of a Mozartean
delicacy and humour.

In 1877 the University of Cambridge, England, con-
ferred upon Brahms the degree of Doctor of Music.
When the degree was first offered to him,
it was suggested that he write a new work Doctor of
for the occasion. He replied that if any Music

of his old works seemed good enough he
would be happy to receive the honour, but that he was
too busy (/) to write a new one.

Early in the year the University had decided to confer
the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, upon both
Brahms and Joachim. Joachim at once
accepted the invitation, together with the Brahms'
conditions — to receive the degree in person Thesis

and to furnish a new composition as thesis
to be performed on the day of the ceremony. Brahms,
on the contrary, had no desire nor intention of visiting
England, looking upon it as probably the least musical
country in Europe, and besides set no store whatever
upon honorary degrees. Therefore he declined to be
present, but was willing to receive the degree if con-
ferred in absentia, and offered as his thesis the " C minor
Symphony " (known for this reason in England as the
" Cambridge Symphony "), which had been performed
the previous November at Carlsruhe. After some
consideration the offer was accepted, and the date

6?

Brahms

of the ceremony was fixed on March 8th at Cam-
bridge.

Brahms had been known heretofore in England chieflly
as a writer of chamber music, and had achieved no

popularity, being understood only by the
Brahms few. The " First Symphony " opened the
in eyes of English music-lovers and was the

E?igland beginning of a widespread appreciation

throughout England. The Symphony was
performed by the Cambridge University Musical Society
under C. Villiers Stanford, and the impression was over-
whelming. The "Schicksalslied " was also given at this
concert and added to the impression produced by the
Symphony.

On December 24th the "Second Symphony" in D
(Op. 73), was given for the first time by the Vienna

Philharmonic Orchestra, under Richter, and
Second was well received. This Symphony, in
Symphony marked contrast to the first, is tranquil,

Mozart-like in its general character, and, like
it, consists of four movements. " It is an idyll, full of
deep content, sparkling life, magic charm and happiness
— a glimpse of Nature — a spring day amid soft mosses,
springing woods, birds' notes, and the bloom of flowers."
It was published in 1878.

The following works appeared in that and the preced-
year : —

Op. 68, " First Symphony " in C minor.
Op. 69, "Nine Songs," for One Voice with Piano.
64

Biographical

Op. 70, " Four Songs," for One Voice and Piano.

Op. 71, " Five Songs," for One Voice and Piano.

Op. 72, "Five Songs," for One Voice and Piano.

Op. 73, "Second Symphony" in D major.

Op. 75, " Ballads and Romances," for Two Voices
and Piano, dedicated to Julius Allgeyer.
Upon the death of Herbeck in 1877 Brahms suc-
ceeded him as a Commissioner of the Ministry of
Education. His duties in this position were to pass
on the applicants for State aid in pursuing their
studies and artistic pursuits. It was in this capacity
that he was able to render Dvorak substantial service,
as well as by prevailing upon Simrock to undertake
the publication of the works of the struggling
Bohemian.

In 1878 Brahms went on the first of those Italian
journeys which meant so much to him during the latter
part of his life, his companion being Dr Bill-
roth. The travellers visited Rome, Naples First
and Sicily. Similar trips were planned for Italian
the following springs (1879 to 1882), and Journey
probably carried out, for Brahms was cer-
tainly in Rome in 1882. They avoided the large hotels,
preferring the small, purely Italian inns. In preparing
for this first journey, Brahms wrote to his companion,
"I beg of you, before passing the frontier, to put two
or three little blue packets of French tobacco {caporal)
in your pockets and bags for me."

Early in 1S79 Brahms went to Frankfort to be present

E 65

Brahms

at the first performance of Dietrich's opera, "Robin
Hood," going thence to Bremen to conduct
Doctor of the third performance of the " Requiem."
Philosophy Later in the year the University of Breslau
made him a Doctor of Philosophy, giving
him precedence over all other living composers of Church
music. He treated this University better than Cam-
bridge, for, at a concert given in honour of the event of
conferring the degree, Brahms brought out two new
compositions, the first of which had evidently been
written for the occasion. These were the two over-
tures, " Academic Festival " and " Tragic " (Op. 80
and 81). The first of these was essentially popular in
character, being built upon popular student songs and
winding up with " Gaudeamus." It was received with
hearty enthusiasm. A few months later it was given
in England, first at the Crystal Palace under Manns,
and shortly after at the Richter Concerts. The " Tragic,"
as its name implies, is marked by deep earnestness,
resignation and melancholy.

On January 14th the "Violin Concerto " (Op. 77),
was played by Joachim, and received an ovation. It
was pronounced by the critics second only
Violin to Beethoven's. It is in style less a concerto

Concerto than a sonata concertante. The orchestra
and does not seem subordinated nor the instru-

Sonata ment pushed to the fore by marked technique

and passage-work. It is not a repertoire
piece, but rather for the inner circle of Brahms' admirers.

66

JOHANNES liRAHMS
From a photograph

To face page 66

Biographical

In November Joachim played the G major "Violin
Sonata " at a Hellmesberger concert with the usual
success. To Joachim and his quartet (including
D'Ahna, Wirth and Robert Hausmann) Brahms owes
a great debt for the loving labour which they bestowed
upon his chamber works, by their artistic rendition
doing as much as anything to establish his fame and
popularise his works.

The new publications of 1879 were two works with-
out Opus number from the press of Senff
("Presto" after Bach, and "Chaconne" Motets

after Bach), and Op. 74, " Two Motets " and

for Mixed Chorus, a capella, dedicated to Piano

Philipp Spitta and written in the old style. Pieces

Op. 76, " Piano Pieces " (Capriccios and
Intermezzi). Op. 77, "Violin Concerto" in D major,
written for and dedicated to Jos. Joachim. This is a
magnificent work, of all modern concertos the one most
worthy to stand beside Beethoven's.

In 1880, on the occasion of the unveiling of the
Schumann Denkmal over his grave at Bonn on the
Rhine, Brahms took active part in the
exercises, playing the pianoforte part in Schumann
Schumann's " Pianoforte Quartet " in E Denkmal
major (Op. 47), and conducting the music
throughout the exercises. All the music performed at
the concert was Schumann's with the exception of
Brahms' "Violin Concerto" (Op. 77), which Joachim
played.

67

Brahms

The summer of this, as well as many subsequent
years, was spent at Ischl. The works of this year

were :— Op. 78, " Sonata for Pianoforte and
Violin Violin " in G major. In the last movement

Sonata and of this sonata Brahms again used the theme
Rhapsodies of the " Regenlied," of which he seemed

especially fond. Op. 79, "Two Rhap-
sodies," for Piano, dedicated to Frau Elizabeth von
Herzogenberg.

On January 4, 1881, the two overtures were given
privately at Breslau without special success, and on
January 13 at Leipsic. Later in the month Brahms
received an offer from the London Philharmonic

Orchestra to act as Conductor, but liberty
Called to was too sweet, so the offer was declined.
London The summer of this year was spent at

Ischl, excepting the month of August, which
was spent at Pressbaum, near Vienna ; and after the
return to the city in October came a long concert
tour, in which the B flat " Piano Concerto " (Op. 83) was
produced at Buda-Pesth, and repeated at Meiningen,
Stuttgart, Basle, Ziirich and Vienna.

The published works of this year in-
" Chorale- elude " Chorale- vorspiel {Chorale Prelude)
vorspieV and Fugue" (" O Traurigkeit, O Herze-

leid ") for Organ, which appeared in
the Musikalischen Wochenblatt, Op. 80, " Aca-
demic Festival Overture," and Op. 81, " Tragic Over-
ture. "

68

Biographical

Op. 82, "Niinie," a Choral Ode (words from Schiller),
for Chorus and Orchestra (Harp ad libitum), was dedi-
cated to Frau Hofrath Henriette Feuerbach,
the mother of Anselm Feuerbach, the lamen- Niinie

ted artist, who had been a true art companion
of Brahms, and whose death had suggested the work
Its first performance in England was in March 1883,
but it was not cordially received, for the reason that
Goetz's setting of the same words, which had been
enthusiastically received shortly before, had made a
second setting unwelcome.

It was Brahms' good fortune to enjoy the friendship
of many of the great men in the German literary and
artistic world. One of these was Gottfried
Keller, some of whose poems he had set Keller

to music, and whom he had met in the fall
of 1882, and greatly admired.

The "Third Symphony" (Op. 90), in F major, was
performed at the Gewandhaus, Leipsic, under Brahms'
direction, and in Vienna during the winter
of 1883,' and was repeated in every musical " Third
centre in Germany. It consists of the usual Symphony "
four movements, and was published in 1884.
The Andante opens with a reminiscence of the Prayer
from Zampa, but the similarity goes no further; the
Poco allegretto is a veritable gem; the Finale has
been likened, not without reason, to a battle.

' Its first Viennese performance was at a concert of the Phil-
harmonic Society, December 2, 1883.

69

Brahms

The published works of 1882 and 1883 were: —
Op. 83, " Second Pianoforte Concerto " in B flat,
dedicated to Eduard Marxsen. Op. 84,
Concerto, " Romances and Songs," for One or Two
Songs a?td Voices and Piano. No. 4 of this series is
Trio the " VergebUches Standchen," one of the

most popular of Brahms' songs. Op. 85,
"Six Songs," for One Voice and Piano. Op. 86, "Six
Songs," for One Voice and Piano. Op. 87, " Trio in
C major," for Piano, Violin and 'Cello.

Op. 88, " Quintet in F major," for Two
" Quintet" Violins, Two Violas and 'Cello. This
and " Quintet " was written during the sum-

" Gesang mer of 1882 at Ischl, and was performed in
der Par- England soon after at a Henry Holmes
zen " concert. Op. 89, " Gesang der Parzen "

(Song of the Fates), from Goethe's IpAi-
genia, dedicated to His Majesty, George, Duke of
Saxe-Meiningen.

In 1884 Brahms again visited in Oldenburg, and gave
a concert, made up entirely of his own works, on De-
cember 19. When the idea was broached
Brahms to him, he wrote in reply, " A Brahms even-
Concert at ing is not exactly to my taste, but I like
Oldenburg something like the ' Liebeslieder Waltzes '
in the programme. Perhaps at the close
you will give a decent piece by a decent musician."
Hermine Spiess came from Bremen to sing, and it was
made quite a gala occasion. The programme included

70

Biographical

the " Tragic Overture,'" " B major Concerto," " Third
Symphony," " Liebeslieder Waltzes " (which were de-
scribed as " the sweetest and most charming pieces
imaginable "), and a group of four songs.

This year witnessed the publication of an unusually
large list: Op. 90, "Third Symphony" in F major.
Op. 91, "Two Songs," for Alto, with
Viola obligato, and Piano. Op. 92, " Four Many

Quartets," for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Vocal

Bass, with Piano. Op. 93A, " Songs and Works

Romances," for Four-part Chorus, a capella.
Op. 93B (published January 28, 1885), " Tafellied "
[Dank der Damen), a drinking glee, by Jos. von
Eichendorff, for Six-part Chorus and Piano, dedicated
to a Friend in Crefeld. Op. 94, " Five Songs," for Low
Voice and Piano. Op. 95, "Seven Songs," for One
Voice and Piano.

The " Fourth Symphony " (Op. 98) in E minor, was
performed in 1885 under the direction of Von Biilow
and Brahms himself at Meiningen. It was
given from MS. at a Richter Concert in ^'Fourth
London in May 1886, then at Leipsic under Symphony"
Reinecke, who repeated it the next year
(1887). This symphony is of a pastoral, idyllic char-
acter, and consists of four movements, the second,
Andante moderate, an extremely beautiful movement of
an elegiac character. The fourth, a passacaglia, con-
sisting of an eight-measure theme, repealed in varied
form throughout the movement, making in all about

71

Brahms

thirty variations, was an unusual Finale for a symphony,
and attracted a great deal of well-merited attention to
the composition. It was published in 1886, along
with Op. 96, " Four Songs," for One Voice and Piano ;
and Op. 97, " Six Songs," for One Voice and Piano.

The year 1886 is important as being that in which
two honours were bestowed upon Brahms — the first

when the Emperor of Germany made him a
Honours Knight of the Order, pour la merite, foi

Arts and Sciences, at the same time with
Professor Treitschke, Gustav Freitag and Verdi ; the
second when the Berlin Academy of Arts elected him a
foreign member.

This was the first of three summers which Brahms
spent at Thun, near Berne. He went in May and

returned to Vienna in October. The at-
Thu?i traction here was his friend Widmann, who

has left a most interesting account of their
relations during this time, from which much that follows
is taken.

In order that he might not be disturbed, Brahms
rented the entire first floor of a house, brown, with

green shutters, overlooking the Aar, with a
Fondness view of the little island promontory of
for Coffee Scherzlingen opposite, where at one time

the poet, Hermann von Kleist, dwelt. Here
he used to rise at dawn and make a cup of coffee, the
mocha for which had been abundantly supplied by

Madame F , of Marseilles, and of which he left a

72

Biographical

goodly supply at the Widmanns', that they might enjoy
his good things with him, and that, on his weekly visits
to them, he might still have his own favourite beverage.
The morning hours were religiously devoted to work,
for which he was always ready at Thun, where the large
verandah and suite of spacious rooms offered him an
undisturbed walk for meditation. He wrote during this
summer the "Sonata for 'Cello and Piano" (Op. 99),
the "Sonata for Violin and Piano" (Op. 100), and the
"Pianoforte Trio" (Op. loi), all of which were first
performed at Widmann's house in Berne. (The 'Cello
Sonata was taken up in the fall by Hausmann and
introduced at his concerts.)

Every Saturday he would come to Berne, remaining
at Widmann's until Tuesday or Wednesday. He would
appear with a leathern satchel thrown over
his shoulder, full of books which he had Visits and
borrowed, and was returning to exchange Visitors
for others. He had frequent visitors at
Thun, among them Professor G. Wendt from Carlsruhe,
Max Kalbeck, lyric poet and musical critic, and his old
and intimate friend, Dr Edouard Hanslick, and Klaus
Groth, the poet, and C. W. Allers, the artist.

With all his frequent visits to Berne, Brahms ex-
changed short letters with Widmann every week, but
rarely went into details. For instance, he
announced a contemplated visit as follows : — Letters

" I will not ; I ought not ; I may not ;
I cannot — but I must go," etc. Or, again —

73

Brah

ms

"Just decided to look you up to-morrow, Thursday
afternoon. If there is no cake on the table, it will be
taken as a sign of dismissal by your B."

At another time he wrote — '■'■ Enclosed 20 francs. . . .
or will you meantime accept it after this fashion, and
cash will follow ; if necessary, enforce payment by pawn-
ing the travelling effects" (which generally consisted
of brush, comb and tooth-brush) " of the well-known
climber of the Jungfrau and Niesen, and frequenter of
the Schanzli Theatre." (He had never ascended the
Jungfrau — this allusion was simply in jest — but had
climbed the Niesen.)

A temporary misunderstanding upon the score of
patriotism brought forth an interesting letter of August
20, 1888, in which Brahm says, "If the
A Good Bayreuth Theatre stood in France, it would
Word for not take anything so great as the works of
Wagner Wagner to make you and all the world go
on a pilgrimage thither, and rouse your
enthusiasm for something so ideally conceived and
executed as those music dramas."

In May 1887 Brahms went to Italy with Simrock
and Kirchner, going to Thun upon his return. He left
in September for Vienna, and was over-
The Dog joyed before leaving to see Widmann's dog,
" Argos " " Argos," which had had to be abandoned on
the Grindelwald glacier a few days before. In
his first letter from Vienna, he wrote, " How is ' Argos '?
Would he take it as a tender greeting from me if you

74

Biographical

were to give him a nice piece of meat instead of dog
biscuit?"

The "Concerto for Violin and 'Cello" (Op. 102) was
played by Joachim and Hausmann at Cologne in the
fall of 1887 ; on New Year's Day, 1888, at
Leipsic, with Brahms himself as Conductor, Double

and at a London Symphony Concert in Concerto
February 1888. It is a revival of a form
which had for a century been neglected, and is in every
way a remarkable work.

The new publications of this year were : —

Op. 99, "Sonata for 'Cello and Piano " in F major.
Op. 100, " Sonata for Violin and Piano " in A major.
There is some similarity between the first theme
of this sonata and the "Preislied," from "Die
Meistersinger,"
Op. loi, "Trio for Piano, Violin and 'Cello" in
C minor. The slow movement of this trio is in
the "seven-four" rhythm.
May 7, 1888, Brahms and Widmann started from
Verona on an Italian trip, through the Marches to
Umbria, Rome, and back through Pied-
mont. At Bologna, Brahms' mf(?^«zy<?, which Martucci
he generally assumed on his Italian trips,
proved unavailing because of the presence of many
German musicians at the International Exposition.
When Martucci, the Director of the Conservatory and
Conductor of the Opera, heard of Brahms' presence,
he at once sent his card to the hotel, "Quattro Pelle-

75

Brah

ms

grini," where the travellers were sojourning, and re-
quested permission to pay his respects. A meeting was
arranged, and as Brahms did not speak Italian, though
he read it with considerable fluency, Widmann was
requested to act as interpreter. Upon entering the
room, Martucci nearly prostrated himself to the floor,
and, seizing the master's hand, kissed it in spite of
resistance. He informed Brahms that he had recently
given the " Second Symphony " at Naples, and showed
great familiarity with the latter's chamber works, hum-
ming themes and exhibiting great enthusiasm. Soon
they began conversing as best they could without the
aid of the interpreter, and parted good friends.

The next day the travellers passed through Rimini
and San Marino, which Brahms facetiously called the

"Postage Stamp Republic." While they
Rossini were passing through Pesaro, he insisted

that, though they couldn't stop, they must
honour Rossini's memory by each singing some air from
// Barbiere as the train rolled through the town.

The summer months were again spent at Thun, where
everyone was stimulated by his active mind, for he was

always in excellent spirits, and his themes of
Intense conversation seemed inexhaustible. He was
Patriot an attentive newspaper reader and observer

of important political events, always anxious
about the result upon the fortunes of Germany. (He
was an intense patriot.) In the early fall he and
Widmann started out on a short journey, but were called

76

Biographical

back to meet Ernst von Wildenbruch, the playwright,
with whom Brahms became very friendly. He left
Thun in September.

The year 1889 was marked by two more honours
bestowed upon him, the first the Order of St Leopold,
from the Emperor of Austria — the first time
that this Order had been bestowed upon a More

civilian — and the second, in the summer — Honours
the honour which he valued most highly of
all — the freedom of his native city, Hamburg. In May
he went to Ischl for the summer. In reality a social
creature, as the years went by, he felt ever more and
more attached to the friends at Vienna, and it was this
fact which infiuenced him to spend this and subsequent
summers near the city. There was also this summer a
short visit to Lichtenthal (Baden-Baden) — where his
headquarters were at the "Baren," a comfortable and
quiet inn in the Lichtenthal AUee — followed by a short
stay at Carlsruhe.

The next Italian tour was in the spring of 1890, again
in company with Widmann, with whom he made still a
third tour in 1893. The second journey was
not very lengthy, taking in only Northern Italy Brahms
— Parma, Cremona, Brescia, Vicenza, Padua, as a

and returning by way of Verona. On board Nurse

ship, returning from Messina to Naples, upon
the third trip, Widmann was struck by a piece of luggage,
which threw him down and accidentally dislocated his
ankle, necessitating his remaining in bed for a few days.

77

Brahms

This mishap brought out a new side of Brahms' nature,
when acting as nurse, he cared for his friend in the
most tender manner. It was after this fashion that he
celebrated his sixtieth birthday. This was the last of
these Italian journeys, which were the chief of his
pleasures.

Brahms was passionately fond of Italy. A spring
which brought no journey to Italy seemed to him to be
half wasted. He felt an inner sympathy
Reverence with the masters of the Italian Renaissance,
for though he never said so in so many words,

Masters always speaking with touching modesty and
of Art deepest veneration of the great heroes in

every field of Art. He took special delight
in discovering evidences of the genius of patient labour,
which would pass unnoticed by the ordinary tourist.
His interest in Art was natural and spontaneous, not
based upon any previous study of the history of Art.
If he did any studying, it was after rather than before he
made his visits to the galleries. He did not consult his
guide-book, but walked rapidly along, pausing before
any work that particularly struck him. He did not go
to Italy to hear music, although he entertained the
greatest respect for Verdi, always speaking of him in
enthusiastic terms. But he never went to the Opera in
Italy, probably because the performances began too
late ; he was usually up before five in the morning.

He loved the spontaneity and fervour of the Italians,
considering it much more desirable than the coldness of

78

Biographical

his northern compatriots. While in Italy he took special
pains to meet the natives half-way in the
matter of suavity and politeness. It is related Loved the
that he was so thoughtful of others that, Italiatis
upon arriving at a hotel to spend the night,
he would at once, upon retiring to his room, remove his
boots and place them outside the door, so that servants
would not have to work late on his account. In the
meantime he would walk about in his stocking-feet until
bedtime, sometimes an hour or more. He was so en-
amoured with Italian life that he would not see its shady
side : the Italians in their turn venerated him.

During the latter part of his life Brahms was the
musical centre of Vienna, and during the
summers which he spent at Ischl he Musical
attracted thither crowds of musicians from Centre of
all parts of the world. It might be in- Vienna

teresting to know that his favourite Vien-
nese restaurant was " Zum rothen Igel."

In the early nineties appeared the following new
works — it is significant of his vitality that he wrote,
in the last seven years of his life, twenty
important compositions, the last appearing Last

in June 1896: — Works

Op. 102, " Double Concerto for Violin
and 'Cello" in A minor. Op. 103, "Gipsy Songs," for
Four Voices (S., A., T., B.) and Piano. These songs
were written in the style of the Hungarian gipsy music,
and are full of "go" and "swing." Op. 104, "Five

79

Brah

ms

Songs," for Mixed Voices. Op. 105, "Five Songs," for
One Voice and Piano. Op. 106, "Five Songs," for One
Voice and Piano. Op. 107, " Five Songs," for One Voice
and Piano. Op. 108, "Sonata for Piano and Violin"
in D minor. Op. 109, Three "Deutsche Fest- und
Gedenkspriiche," for Double Chorus, a capella. Op.
no, "Three Motets," for Four and Eight Voices. Op.
Ill, "String Quintet," No. 2, in G major (with an un-
usually prominent part for the Viola). Op. 112, "Six
Gipsy Songs," for Four Voices, a capella. Op. 113,
" Thirteen Canons," for Female Voices and Piano. The
best of these is practically a transcription, in the canon
form, of Schubert's song, " Der Leiermann." Op. 114,
" Trio " in A minor, for Piano, Violin and Clarionet (or
Alto). Op. 115, "Quintet for Clarionet and Strings"
in B minor. Op. 116, "Fantasien," for Pianoforte.
Op. 117, "Three Intermezzi," for Pianoforte. The first
of these, a Slumber Song, was suggested by one of
Herder's "Scotch Ballads," and bears the following
motto : —

" Schlaf sanft, mein Kind, schlaf sanft und schon,
Mich dauert's sehr dich weihnen sehn."

(Sleep lightly, my child, sleep peacefully,
It grieves my heart thy tears to see.)

Op. 118, "Six Piano Pieces." Op. 119, "Four Piano
Pieces." Op. 120, "Two Sonatas," for Clarionet (or
Alto) and Piano ; No. i in F minor, No. 2 in E flat.
Op. 121, "Four Serious Songs" (Words from the
Bible).

80

Biographical

The last Italian journey (in 1893) was rather hastily
planned when Brahms heard of preparations for a
public celebration of his sixtieth birthday,
and the party numbered four — two friends, The Last
Hegar and Freund, accompanying him Italian

and Widmann. They visited, besides the Journey
places before mentioned, Milan, Naples,
Sorrento and Sicily, paying a visit to the grave of
Von Platen, the poet.

Brahms' last great choral work was the " Deutsche
Fest- und Gedenkspriiche," which was first given at an
Industrial Exhibition in Hamburg, Sep-
tember 1889, and then at Berne Cathedral '' Fest- und
at a festival commemorating the seven Gedenk-
hundredth anniversary of the city. Brahms spriiche "
was invited to come from Ischl to conduct
the performance, but declined, as he did not wish to
make the long journey. The composition is patriotic
in character, and consists of three large numbers
for Double Chorus without solo or accompaniment.
The first, " Our fathers trusted in Thee," refers to the
Battle of Leipsic (18 13), in which the Fatherland
regained its liberty. The second refers to the collapse
of the French in the Franco-Prussian War at the Battle
of Sedan (187 1). The third praises the splendour of
the new united Empire. The work is deeply religious
throughout.

From 189 1 to 1893 Brahms was much at Mein
ingen, where he was on terms of warm friendship with
F 81

Brah

ms

the Duke and Duchess. He was always a welcome guest
at their Court, and often went there for per-
Meiningen formances of his new compositions under the
and direction of Steinbach. He also delighted

Miihlfeld in the playing of Miihlfeld, the clarionetist,
which will explain the great prominence
given to the clarionet in the works of this period.
Miihlfeld was a superlative artist who did much to
make the clarionet works successful. Brahms insisted
upon his being engaged to introduce them in England,
where he won great renown both for himself and the
works.

Despite his dislike of display, Brahms enjoyed ap-
pearing here in the full splendour of his many orders.
As an evidence of the high esteem in which
Royal he was held by the Duchess, she sent him a

Friends pair of slippers embroidered by her own
hands, and, knowing his dislike of letter-
writing, and that his health was poor, she enclosed a
post-card, all filled out, so that all he need do, to
acknowledge receipt of the gift, was to sign and
return it.

In the fall of 1895, at the opening of the new Ton-
halle at Zurich, Brahms conducted the " Triumphlied,"
several of his concerted works and songs
Last Swiss being also given. Joachim, Hausmann,
Trip Hegar and several others assisted in the

performance. He was then still in perfect
health, and spent the evening at the house of a

82

Biographical

wealthy music-lover, laughing and joking with the
young daughters of his host, and remaining until
after midnight. Again, in March 1896, he planned an
Italian trip, but was unable to carry it through.

On May 20, 1896, came what proved to be Brahms'
death-blow — Madame Schumann passed away. When
he received the news he hastened at once to
Frankfort to be present at the funeral, and Mada?ne
it was to "a fit of anger" at missing his Schumanti's
train — he would not admit that he ever Death

became excited — that he attributed the
illness which eventually proved fatal. This was an
affection of the liver, from which his father had also
died. Undoubtedly the shock of Madame Schumann's
death had much to do both with bringing it on and
with its fatal issue. Within a few weeks of his death he
was assured by his physician that he might live many
years, if only he would will to do so.

Brahms at first made light of his illness, calling it
"only a commonplace jaundice"; but as the disease
became more serious, he requested of his
physician and attendants, "On no account tell " Only a
me anything unpleasant " ; so that the hope- Commoft-
lessness of his condition was kept from him, place

and he probably never knew until the end Jaundice "
that he could not recover ; in fact, he had
planned to spend the summer of 1897 at Carlsbad. In
a letter of October 1896 he was still as cheerful as ever,
and the last letter he ever wrote to Widmann (in

83

Brahms

December 1896) showed no diminution in his good
spirits.

Though suffering, he took his daily walks almost to
the last, and less than a month before his death he
attended a concert of the Philharmonic
Last Public Society. The programme began with the
Appearance " Fourth Symphony," and at the end of the
first movement every eye was turned toward
the director's box, where Brahms was seated. A storm of
applause swept the audience, which was only quieted
when he arose and bowed his acknowledgments. Each
successive movement was greeted with the same en-
thusiasm. The entire assemblage was affected at sight
of the master's altered face and figure, and his evident
ignorance of the seriousness of his condition. Many felt
that they were greeting him for the last time, which
indeed proved to be the case.

Herr Conrat tells us that during the last winter of his
life Brahms left the house but seldom, and on the occa-
sion of their last meeting, on March 25, 1897
Failing (only ten days before his death), he strove to
Health do the honours as usual, with great diffi-

culty bringing forth the " renowned Brahms
cigarettes " (very large and strong) from another room,
and attempting to carry on a conversation. But the
exertion had been too great : his head sank upon his
breast, and he murmured, "There must be something
in this" (meaning his illness). He was unable to
resume the conversation, so Conrat quietly left after a

84

Biographical

few minutes without disturbing him, and for the first
time in their acquaintance of ten years Brahms was
unable to see him to the door.

His death occurred at Vienna early in the morning of
Saturday, April 3, 1897. His last words, spoken a few
hours before he died, to the nurse who had
given him a drink, were, " I thank you." Death

His body was interred in a suburb of Vienna,
in the Centralfriedhof, near the remains of Mozart,
Beethoven and Schubert.

Up to the middle of his career it does not appear that
his publications paid him very liberally. Concerning the
" German Requiem," he said, "Just look at
the score of the ' Requiem,' and you will see His Estate
all the possible and impossible sizes of paper.
At that time I never had enough money to buy a large
quantity of paper; but now I have it a-plenty." In
the latter part of his life he must have fared better than
his great predecessors in the Austrian capital, for he left
a matter of 80,000 dollars in the bank, besides other
valuable effects.

He died intestate : he had occasionally, in his later
years, spoken of making a will, but looked upon that
formality as an acknowledgment of old age
His Heirs and the approach of death, neither of which
seemed imminent ; for, up to the time of
his last illness, he was the picture of robust health. It
had been his wish to remember the Gesellschaft der

85

Brahms

Musikfreunde, but as a result of the litigation which fol-
lowed his death, it turned out that the Gesellschaft got
only his books, autographs and musical manuscripts,
while the bulk of his estate went to distant relatives
(whom he heartily disliked).

A statue to Brahms was unveiled in December 1899

at Meiningen, Dr Joachim making an ad-

Statue aiid dress ; and his house at Gmlinden, Salz-

Museum kammergut, has been opened as a Brahms

Museum, the doors and windows having been

taken from the house in which he had lived at Ischl.

86

Brahms : The Man

Physically, Brahms was a fine specimen of a man.

"A stocky, compact figure— not exactly elegantly attired

— with ruddy complexion indicating good

health, slightly grey beard, walking with his Appear-

hands folded behind his back." His head ance and

was perhaps a trifle too large for his body, Health

while his eyes were penetrating and full of

fire and nobility of expression. His love of nature kept

him much out of doors, especially as his physician

advised walking to counteract his increase in weight

after middle life.

In the city he rarely omitted his daily walk on
the Prater, the favourite promenade of Vienna,
and even in late life Hanslick said, " He
makes foot tours like a student and Walking
sleeps like a child." When in the country and

he was fond of climbing mountains. Alpine Mountain
summits and glaciers had great attraction Climbing
for him, also the welcome he was sure
to find at Basel and Zurich, which accounted for his
frequent trips to Switzerland. His tendency to corpu-

87

Brahms

lency made the ascent somewhat difficult, but his down-
hill pace was a merry one. " It was comical to see,"
says Conrat, "when we did any climbing in our trips
that he did not want to admit that it caused him any
inconvenience. 'Well, Conrat, now stop and take a
look at this view,' he would say. I would take the hint,
being well repaid in seeing how glad he was to gain a
little rest."

His appetite was vigorous, and he loved to sit with his
friends in the Kneipe (restaurant) sipping his beer and
wine or Kaffee, often until the small hours
Appetite of the morning. When the weather per-
and mitted, he always dined in the garden of

Unconven- some restaurant, avoiding the table d'hote,
tionality because it demanded a more conventional
garb than he was accustomed to wear. (He
was most at ease in summer-time in flannel shirt, with-
out tie or stiff collar ; add to this the fact that he gener-
ally carried his broad-brimmed soft hat in his hand
rather than on his head, and it is evident what a striking
figure he made.) He never visited England although
often pressed to do so, because he was not well ac-
quainted with the language and, because, as he said,
"One has almost to live in a dress suit and white tie."
In bad weather he frequently wore a brownish-grey
shawl thrown around his shoulders and fastened in front
with a huge pin.

No one could come near Brahms without feeling a
sense of his power. " His was one of the strongest

88

The Man

personalities in the whole line of Masters of Music"
(Maitland). Those who met him for the
first time were invariably struck by the Fower/ul
kindliness of his eyes — light blue, wonder- Person-
fully keen and bright, with now and then a ality

roguish twinkle and yet sometimes an almost
childlike tenderness. This roguishness in his eyes
correspontied to a quality of his mind — no doubt in-
herited from his father, who had a keen sense of humour
— good-natured sarcasm, and remarkable rapidity at re-
partee. A great controversalist, he much preferred a
conflict of opinions rather than that people out of
respect for his powers and achievements should always
agree with him.

A pedantic musician from a very small Swiss town
assured him that he knew all that he (Brahms) had ever
written. Brahms motioned for silence, re-
marking that the band was just then playing A Gungl
something of his. The man listened, gaping March

and with upturned eyes (it was a march by
Gungl), while Brahms turned to the rest of the party and
whispered in great glee, " Well fooled ! "

Another musician introduced himself to Brahms, and
to make conversation asked if he did not wear spectacles
when conducting. (He was very near-sighted
in middle life and very sensitive about it. Spectacles
He used to say he escaped seeing many
unpleasant things when in the street without his glasses,
and that for him there were more beautiful women than

Brahms

for those whose keener sight destroyed the illusions.)
Quick as a flash he replied — alluding to Schumann's
"Faust," which had just been performed, — "Yes, my
good fellow. Of course I put on my glasses whenever
I see written on the score, ' Here women pass by.'"

Brahms declared that he had had as a boy a beautiful
soprano voice, but had spoiled it by too much singing

while it was changing. In middle life his
As a voice was " rough and almost cracked." At

Singer a " Billroth Evening " of the Academic

and Critic Society of Vienna (whose decoration he

had received), he was an honoured guest
and joined in singing all the student songs, which he
had known and loved as a young man, as loudly as his
"rough and almost cracked " voice would permit. He
frequently attended the Sunday musicales of his friend,
Professor Gausbacher, and would sometimes accompany
one or two of the young girl pupils, but was always full
of caustic witticisms which were likely to disconcert the
singers. Aware of this, he said to Heuberger who wanted
to show him some of his compositions, " I should be
much interested to see them, but you mustn't be sensi-
tive at what I say about them."

Among his friends Brahms was of a genial, social

disposition, full of kindness, loving com-
A Genial panionship, and at heart a true gentleman.
Friend He was at his best in the small circle of

his intimate friends, witty, full of fun, good
company, of a kind-hearted and generous disposition.

90

The Man

On week days he was generally seen alone, but on
Sundays he was usually accompanied on his pedestrian
trips by a number of friends. On these occasions he
was always in very good humour. He felt very much
at home in Vienna, finding there many warm friends,
but had a deep-seated hatred for everything French, and
had never been in Paris.

A man of strong personality, oblivious to criticism or
censure, unmindful even of the praise of friends, he was
eminently capable of carrying out his plans
to their ultimate conclusions and awaiting Indiffer-
results, striving ever without digression for ent to

his ideal. He created to the best of his Criticism
ability, then let his creations stand or fall
on their own merits, unmindful of the reception ac-
corded them. Even in his early days his simplicity,
absolute straightforwardness, sincerity and calm self-
reliance enabled him to meet triumphantly the coolness
and indifference that for years were his lot. He was
always intensely interested in his new works until they
had been publicly performed; then he laid them aside,
and it was almost impossible to get him even to mention
them. For the opinions of outsiders he had the pro-
foundest contempt, and was completely indifferent to
journalistic verdicts.

In his later years a brusqueness, which characterised
him as a young man, wore off, and his manner became
milder; even the sharp, stinging sarcasm, which his
enemies knew so well, became a thing of the past.

91

Brahms

His sturdy manliness was probably more or less an

inherited trait, for it is related that once
His when the conductor directed Brahms' father

Father's not to play so loudly he replied with dignity,
Brusque- " Herr Capellmeister, this is my contrabass,
ness I want you to understand, and I shall play

on it as loud as I please."
Brahms had a deep-rooted dislike of all display of
solemnity, a shyness of betraying his deepest feelings,

that made him hide the inner workings of
Disliked his heart under a mask of irony, sarcasm
Emotional and seeming indifference. The illness and
Display subsequent death of his most intimate friend,

Dr Billroth, the eminent surgeon, deeply
affected him ; yet, when he was buried and the company
standing about were visibly much moved, Brahms was
walking with a friend in another part of the cemetery,
conversing about some unimportant topic lest he should
give way to his feelings. Self-importance especially be-
tween fellow-artists disgusted him, and when obliged
to endure it he could be blunt almost to unkind-
ness.

On his first visit to Goetz at Winterthur he saw some
freshly-written sheets of manuscript lying on Goetz's desk.

Brahms stepped forward to look at it, saying,
Goetz's " Ah ! Do you also sometimes amuse your-
" Treasure'' self with such things?" (It was a piece of

chamber music.) Goetz quickly spread his
hands over the manuscript and said, in solemn tones,

92

cZ(^'~/><,

OU^ ^-^ Vl^ iL4^ /r^^L^

Ul

^-V/

^ "

^/^ 7y/^"

FACSliMlLK OF BRAHMS' HANUWKITING

To face pa^e 92

The Man

" It is my most sacred treasure." Brahms turned im-
patiently away, changed the conversation, and soon after
took his leave. Each afterward found something blame-
worthy in the conduct of the other, but the occurrence
was really the result simply of incompatibility of char-
acter and aim. They afterward became more or less
friendly, but never really intimate.

One day a Viennese composer, whose opera had been
accepted in spite of its triviality, asked Brahms why he
had never composed an opera. Brahms
answered quietly, " The reason is very simple. Music for
I believe that to be able to write for the the Theatre
theatre one must possess a measure of
stupidity. I feel that I lack the requisite amount."

Even after his compositions had begun to be generally
accepted, personal enmity and opposition followed him
everywhere, so that it is not surprising that
he should have won the reputation in certain So7ne

quarters of being reserved and brusque, and Bright

that his sharp wit made him feared. He Criticisms
was the butt of many jokes, which he often
answered in kind. Nietzsche, the philosopher, said of
him, " Brahms is never more touching than when he
sings of his own impotence." Old Hellmesberger, who
was very anxious to shine as a wit, said, " A symphony
of Brahms is like a soldier who presents himself before
his lieutenant with the words, ' It is my duty to report,
lieutenant, that I have nothing to report.'"

On the other hand, Brahms took a rather peculiar
93

Brahms

revenge on Rubinstein, who never played any of his
(Brahms') compositions in concert. They
Brahms often conversed upon many musical subjects,
a7id but never in any way did Brahms say a word

Rubinstein which might lead anyone to think that
Rubinstein had ever given a concert. After
the performance of Rubinstein's "Nero" a number of
musicians were picking it to pieces. Brahms Ustened
quietly for a while, then, shaking his head, said, "The
character of ' Nero ' had been well comprehended " (by
Rubinstein). " It was horrible music."

His hatred of "kapellmeister music " was as strong as

Wagner's. One composer played Brahms a composition,

which has since been well received, and the

Unfortim- sole comment he received was, "What beau

ate tiful music paper you use ! Pray, where do

Composers you get it ? " Another composer, who had

made a setting of Schiller's " Lay of the Bell,"

upon playing it for Brahms, was told, " Yes, I have always

thought this ' Glocke ' of Schiller's one of the greatest

poems ever written, and I shall continue to hold that

opinion." When told that a monument was

Raff to be erected to Raff, he said, " A monument

to Raff? Dear me ! Well, you had better

be quick about it, lest he should be forgotten before you

have got it ready."

Brahms was sane on all subjects. He not only had
clear ideas and firm principles in all concerning art
and literature, but in other fields he showed clear in-

94

The Man

sight and keen discrimination. An attentive observer
of current events, he took an active interest
in all the phenomena of life, natural, artistic, His Broad
and even industrial. He was interested in Sympathies
mechanics and farming, called birds by their
names, imitated their notes and knew their habits.
Every new and useful thing gave him pleasure, but
for the unpractical he had no sympathy. Disliking the
bicycle, he had yet the highest admiration for the
progress of modern civilisation, which has given us
the electric light, the telephone, the phonograph and
kindred inventions. Nature and all concerning the
animal world deeply interested him. Henschel relates
that when walking along the road one day Brahms
called out excitedly, " Look out ! look out ! You may
kill it." It was a tumble-bug !

His themes of conversation seemed inexhaustible.
He was a voluminous reader on all subjects, his tastes
running to history and the standard authors
rather than to novelties, and he liked to Profound
go back time and time again to favourite Scholarship
books and scenes. He greatly admired and
respected most of the contemporary literary and artistic
masters of his country, with many of whom he was per-
sonally acquainted.

With Brahms politeness and even kindliness did not
cease with a certain rank or class, but only where, irre-
spective of either, he thought he detected some in-
sincerity. It was his habit to think well of everyone

95

Brah

ms

if he thought of him at all. He revelled in the sunshine,

both physically and morally. In a letter to
Kindliness Widmann he sent greetings to the family,
to Servants naming especially the servant. He would

sometimes turn his back on some " grande
dame" and turn to the waiting-maid to address a
friendly word to her. He spoke to Henschel with
emotion of a serving-maid who had lost her position
in order to shield a careless postman who, being
married, could not afford to lose his.

Naturally modest and unassuming, he was ever
happiest amid simple surroundings, himself living, in

the main, a life of Spartan simplicity ; full
Modest and o^ tact, always pleasant and in excellent
Tactful spirits, he was greatly beloved by all who

knew him well. He could not flatter, and
was not himself susceptible to flattery, nor was he lavish
with praise. Deeply religious in an inexpressive way,
he was in faith a liberal Protestant, but was ever careful
not to wound the sensibilities of those with whom he
came in contact.

That Brahms had his human weaknesses is evident
from the following excerpt from the Countess Potocka's
Theodor Leschetizky : —

"The Tonkunstlerverein . . . originated in 1881 in
weekly meetings for the bringing together of artists and
the production and discussion of new works. Latterly
the society has devoted itself very largely to the works
of Brahms, during his life always the greatest among us

96

The Man

at the TonkUnstlerverein. Many times Brahms would
join us when, as was customary, after the
music, we repaired to a neighbouring re- The Ton-
staurant, forming into groups at the small kiinstler-
tables to discuss the evening's events. He verein
was grave and rather ponderous in his
manner. His voice was low, solemn, a little husky,
but what he said was not devoid of wit and fun, and
he had a very kind smile. No one is without a vul-
nerable point. Brahms' weakness was his decorations ;
he was vain of them, and liked to have them spoken
of."

Disliking all celebrations of public character, he was
ever happy in any unexpected homage, being much
gratified to find himself recognised and re-
spectfully greeted wherever he chanced to Gipsy
go. The numerous gardens in Vienna, Bands
where gipsy bands played, especially at-
tracted him, and it was delightful to see the increased
spirit which they put into their music in the presence of
the master who had done so much toward opening their
beloved tunes to a wider sphere of popularity. In
Italy he often fell in with gipsy bands, and always
stopped to listen, and applauded lustily. Upon one
occasion the leader recognised him, and instantly
rapping for silence, passed the whispered word, and
the band struck up one of Brahms' pieces, much to
the latter's delight.

Brahms hated to h&feied or made much of, avoiding,
G 97

Brahms

if possible, all public demonstrations, and sometimes
even those privately arranged by his friends.
Sixtieth When he heard that festivities were being
Birthday arranged for his sixtieth birthday he packed
Celebration up his bag and hurried off to Italy. How-
ever, a gold medal was struck and presented
to him upon his return. He thanked the deputation as
follows : " I really feel more ashamed of myself than
overjoyed at this great honour which has been shown
me. Thirty years ago it would have made me happy,
and I would have felt it my duty to make myself
worthy of such distinction, but now — it is too late."
He also received many telegrams of congratulation
upon this occasion — one from the Duke of Meiningen,
which pleased him greatly. That he was not, however,
entirely unmindful of his abilities is proven by the follow-
ing remark made one day half in jest, have in earnest :
" How they all come with music under their arms
and desire to play their compositions for me. Poor
music I do not care to hear, and if I wish to hear good
music — I can compose that myself."

"At no time has his manner to strangers or mere
acquaintances been remarkable for urbanity; but, on
the slightest suspicion of expressed admira-
'' Lion- tion, he assumes a stony, or, rather, thorny
hunter" impenetrability" (Maitland). It is related
that at Baden-Baden he was approached by
a " lion-hunter " as he lay under a tree in a garden. A
little speech, evidently prepared beforehand and over-

The Man

loaded with flattery, was interrupted by Brahms, who
said, " Stop, my dear sir. There must be some mistake
here. I have no doubt you are looking for my brother,
the composer. I'm sorry to say he has just gone out
for a walk, but if you make haste and run along that
path, through the wood, and up yonder hill, you may
probably still catch him."

A typical incident is related of him during his short
stay at Gratz. A concert of church music was to be
given by the Gratz Choral Society, and
Brahms came to the last rehearsal. The Incident
drilling took place in the choir of the at Gratz
church late in the afternoon. The con-
ductor began Bach's " Trauer Ode," when Brahms arose
unnoticed, and, standing on the left near the organist,
began to read the organ score, and somewhat casually
turned over the leaves. Gradually it grew darker and
darker, until the organist could no longer see the notes.
Without a word Brahms took a piece of candle from his
coat pocket, lighted it, and held it so as to help out the
astonished organist to the end of the rehearsal.

One writer, in summing up, says : " To Brahms was
given Homeric simplicity, the primeval health of the
well-balanced mind. He excels all his
contemporaries in soundness and univer- Summing
sality, frankness, modesty, simple and up

homely virtue combined with the widest
sympathy, most far - reaching intelligence, extreme
catholicity and tolerance."

99

Brahms

Letter - writing was ever burdensome to him ; the
post card was his favourite sheet (!). In this connec-
tion the following anecdote is apropos : An
Letter- English publisher once, in an interview,

writing suggested to Brahms the advantage of
having his music published simultaneously
in England and Germany, especially as in England
there had grown up a considerable Brahms cult.
Brahms admitted the advisability of the project, but
declined to go into it, because he would then have to
write two letters instead of one for each work issued.
This interview took place in Hamburg, where he was
temporarily sojourning. To show that there was no
hard feeling on his part, Brahms was very cordial to
the Englishman and his companion, taking them all
over the city to see the sights, and insisting upon
paying all the bills himself.

This English anecdote leads naturally to another. In
1887 Brahms was invited to write a new work for the
Leeds Festival. His reply was character-
Leeds istic : "Should you deem one of my old

Festival works worthy of the honour of being per-
formed on this occasion, it would be a
great pleasure to me. But if this is, as it appears, not
the case, how may I hope that I shall succeed this time.
If, however, the charm of novelty be an absolute neces-
sity, then pardon me if I confess that I fail properly
to appreciate, or have no sympathy with such a dis-
tinction."

100

The Man

Naturally Brahms received many visits from conduc-
tors, young composers, lady pianists, and the like. By
years of experience he had acquired the art of
turning them away without letting them touch Autograph
the piano. Autograph hunters were another Hunters
source of annoyance, but they seldom out-
witted him. One German lady at Cape Town, South
Africa, year after year, with the greatest perseverance,
wrote Brahms ordering " one of your far-famed Viennese
pianofortes," but never received a reply. On one occa-
sion an especially crafty fellow sent Brahms a telegram
as follows : " Your order for ten dozen rapiers, genuine
Solingen make, will be despatched in a day or two. We
take the liberty of obtaining payment through the post-
office." Brahms stuck the message in his pocket and
waited for the rapiers. Needless to say, they never came.

He was devoted to children — a child himself when
with them. One evening while visiting at Berne he
lifted Widmann's little five-year daughter on
his back and trotted her merrily all through Devotion
the city, not in the least disturbed by the to

wondering looks of the passers-by. A young Children
American lady, travelling in Europe in 1895,
wrote home : " We saw Johannes Brahms on the hotel
verandah at Domodossola, and what do you think ! He
was down on all fours, with three children on his back,
riding him for a horse." When dining at a hotel or
restaurant he seldom left the table without filling his
pockets with sweets to give to some poor child. He

Brah

ms

had special sympathy for the children of the poor. He
always regretted that the Swiss children could not pro-
perly understand his North German dialect, and there-
fore could not chat with him as freely as he would
have liked. He would stop anywhere in the street to
speak with children, and when he became known to
them they would follow him about in groups, shy, yet
eager to attract his notice.

Until late in life Brahms invariably refused to sit for
his portrait, even his friend, Anselm Feuerbach, being

unable to shake his determination. Once,
Portraits while he was visiting at Kandersteg, Wid-
and a mann's summer home, the latter, thinking

Subterfuge to outwit him, had an artist come to the

house, ostensibly to paint his (Widmann's)
little daughter. When the time came for the sitting she
was placed in a direct line with Brahms, so that the
artist, in seeming to look at the little girl, could be
taking in his features. The artist set to work, but had
not proceeded far before Brahms saw through their
ruse, and excused himself on the ground that he did
not like to inflict cigarette smoke upon the ladies and
children (he was already upon his fifth or sixth). He
quietly left the room, and remained upon the verandah
until the artist had gotten well along on a portrait of the
child, which had been decided upon at the last minute.
Later in life he, in a large measure, got over this anti-
pathy, and one etching particularly, Klinger's '■^Brahms
Fantasias'''' (an imaginative reproduction of the "In-

The Man

termezzi and Fantasias," for Piano), gave him keenest
delight.

Amateur photographs, especially snap-shots of him
taken without his knowledge, gave him
great pleasure. Perhaps the best of these Amateur
was by Frau Fellinger of Vienna, whose Portraits
house was a true home for Brahms in his — and

last years. One of his peculiarities was Mirrors
that he did not use a mirror, urging as a
reason that he saw his face so often in pictures that he
had no need of one.

Brahms was very partial to the Summer Theatre on
the Schanzli, where operas and operettas were frequently
given, mostly with piano accompaniment.
He never missed a performance of Johann Admirer
Strauss' Die Fliedermaus. His admira- of Johann
tion for Strauss was genuine, for on Strauss
one occasion at a social gathering, where
the musical friends of Madame Johann Strauss were
writing upon her fan their names, with phrases from
their works, Brahms wrote the opening measures of the
"Beautiful Blue Danube Waltzes," and underneath it,
" Not, I regret to say, by your devoted friend, Johannes
Brahms." Strauss' band in the Volksgarten was among
Brahms' most constant enjoyments.

Brahms has been somewhat maligned as being quick-
tempered, but certainly the testimony of those who
knew him well would prove the contrary. Unquestion-
ably he was genial in his personal relations, of a naturally

Brah

ms

cheerful disposition, and never took himself too seri-
ously. Leaning out of the window in the
Cheerful sunshine, and stroking his flowing beard,
Disposi- he one day called out to Dietrich, " See, I
Hon am trying to run opposition to Michael

Angelo's 'Moses.'" He would go sing-
ing or whistling along the road in early morning,
hat in hand, always with a kindly greeting for those he
met. For more than twenty years he lived in the same
quiet house on the same quiet street, with very few
social pleasures excepting the fortnightly meetings of
the Tonkiinstlerverein.

After his father's death he supported his step-
mother, and also his brother Frederick,
Not inti- who died in 1886, but otherwise had no
mate with intercourse with him or with his sister
Family Elise, who died in 1892, with both of
whom he had little in common.
Brahms' attitude towards his art and its great masters
was always one of greatest reverence, Bach being pro-
bably highest in his esteem. An illustration
""A Bottle very much to the point is afforded by an
of Bach''' anecdote related by Henschel. In 1876
Brahms was the guest of the owner of a fine
vineyard, famous for the quality of its wine. At table a
member of the party, meaning to compliment both the
host and the guest of honour, remarked, "Yes, gentle-
men, what Brahms is among composers this Rauenthaler
is among the wines." Quick as a flash Brahms spoke

104

The Man

up, "Ah! Then let us have a bottle of Bach
now."

He had a warm affection for Haydn, and spent much
time analysing the latter's symphonies. So devoted was
he to Beethoven that he used religiously to
frequent the old restaurant in the Wildmarkt Haydn and
where Beethoven used to dine. He pos- Beethoven
sessed many valuable autographs, among
them that of Mozart's G minor Symphony and Schu-
bert's "Wanderer."

Dr Hanslick says that during their long and intimate
friendship Brahms never referred to his
(Hanlick's) many critiques on his work, Hafisltck's
though one day he quietly surprised him Critiques
with the dedication of the " Four-hand
Waltzes " (Op. 39).

Brahms had a great talent for teaching, and, in the
opinion of Heuberger, would have made an excellent
teacher for advanced pupils. It seems that
he would have been willing to establish an Brahms
" Advanced School of Composition " at the as a

Vienna Conservatory, such as had long been Teacher
in existence at the Academy of Plastic Arts.
When the question was raised as to his being able to
find time for such work, he remarked, "The few notes
which I write during the winter are of absolutely no
importance."

One time he said to Henschel, " I am not at all
ashamed to own that it gives me great pleasure if a

105

Brahms

song or an adagio, or anything of mine, has turned out

to be particularly good. What I cannot
True understand is how people like myself can be

Modesty vain." He often said, " One can never hope

to get upon the level of such giants as Bach
and Beethoven. One can only work conscientiously in
one's own field."

Brahms worked slowly, letting his ideas germinate
and take their own time in arranging themselves. " Let

it rest," was his advice to a young composer.
Worked " Let it rest, and keep going back to it and
Sloivly working at it over and over again until it is

completed as a finished work of art; until
there is not a note too much or too little, not a measure
you could improve upon. Whether it is beautiful 2X%Q>
is an entirely different matter, but perfect it must be.
You see I am lazy, but I never cool down over a work
once begun, until it is perfected, unassailable. One
ought never to forget that by actually perfecting one
piece one learns more than by beginning or half-finishing
ten."

At another time he said, "Do you suppose that my
songs occur to me ready-made and all polished? I

have tormented myself in curious ways over
" Whistle them. Do you know — but do not take
a Song" this too literally — that you must be able to

whistle a song, then it is good. . . . The
feeling to be expressed is of the first importance ; the
medium is secondary."

1 06

The Man

It will be seen that Brahms was glad to advise and
help young musicians, and paid great atten-
tion to the smallest details in criticising, Helping
even to the musical hand-writing. In this Young

connection it might be profitable to repeat Musicians
some advice which he gave to a young com-
poser as follows : —

" You must practise more gymnastics, four-part songs,
variations, etc."

" In writing songs, you must endeavour Advice to
to invent simultaneously with the melody a Beginners
healthy, powerful bass."

"No heavy dissonances on the unaccented part of
the measure, please."

The following remark made to a singer is interesting,
and may call forth more protest than any of the fore-
going : " As far as I am concerned, a
thinking, sensible singer may, without hesi- Liberties
tation, alter a note which for some reason with Corn-
ox other is out of his compass into one positions
which he can reach with comfort, provided
always the declamation remains correct and the accentua-
tion does not suffer.''

His aim in all his works was the attainment of har-
monious beauty, combined with perfect form
and purity of feeling, transfiguring everything, Manner of
even the commonplace into a lofty and peace- Composing
ful calm. In his music emotion is not ex-
cluded, it is regulated. It was his habit to work inde-

107

Brahms

fatigably, but with no haste or impatience. All his life
he is said to have written a contrapuntal exercise each
day. His assimilative faculty was enormous. He de-
scribed his manner of composing as follows: "When I
have found the first phrase of a song, I might shut the
book then and there, go for a walk, do some other work,
and perhaps not think of it again for months. Nothing,
however, is lost. If I afterward approach the subject
again, it is sure to have taken shape. I can now really
begin to work at it."

Brahms was a man of clear ideas and firm principles,
not only in all that concerned art and literature, but
also in other fields of thought. His in-
Musicfor tellectual horizon was wide, his mental
the Masses vision clear and healthy, his judgment sane
on all subjects, therefore it is not to be
wondered at that he was no visionary in his art theories.
This is evident from his sympathy with the omnipresent
Maennerchor (men's choruses) and brass bands, on the
ground that they are the most convenient form in which
the common man can acquire his musical education.
His attitude towards this and several kindred subjects is
well expressed by a letter which he wrote to Widmann

about ten years before his death : —
Temper- "Your zeal against male choruses and

ance brass bands reminds me of the temperance

Societies societies which occasionally ask me for sym-
pathy. But I have none. It is so easy to
deprive the poor man of his oft sorely-needed dram. I

1 08

The Man

should be much in their favour if such societies had
the object and power of procuring compensation for him
by making wine, beer and coffee cheaper.

"Now, male choruses and the modern brass instru-
ments are convenient for the common man ;
everything else is to be approached more Male

cautiously and learned earlier. Unfortun- Choruses
ately, amongst the so-called better classes a a^id Brass
fondness for any other instrument but the Bands

piano seems to be almost non-existent.

"It is very desirable that parents should let their
children learn other instruments — violin,
'cello, flute, clarionet, horn, etc. (this would Too much
also be the means of arousing interest in all Piano

sorts of music).

" But there could be more and better work done for
singing in the schools, as also by letting boys commence
the violin very early. ... I have often seen
that done in Austrian villages. The sing- Singing in
ing of the Mass in Catholic churches is also the Schools
far from stupid. To sing at sight in all
keys, and to be intimate with fugues ! . . ."

At another time Brahms wrote to Widmann : " With
marriage it is as with opera. If I had already composed
an opera and, for all I care, seen it fail, I
would certainly write another, but I can't Concerning
make up my mind to a first opera or a first Marriage
marriage." And still another time, " I have
missed my chance. At the time I wished for it I could

109

Brah

ms

not offer a wife what I should have felt was right.
I sometimes regret that I did not marry. I ought to
have a boy of ten now ; that would be nice. But when
I was of the right age for marrying I lacked the position
to do so, and now it is too late. At the time when I
should have liked to marry my music was either hissed
in the concert rooms or at least received with icy cold-
ness. Now, for myself I could bear that quite easily,
because I knew its worth, and that some day the tables
would be turned. And when after such failures I
entered my lonely room I was not unhappy. On the
contrary ! But if in such moments I had had to meet
the anxious questioning eyes of a wife, with the words,
' Another failure,' I could not have borne that. For a
woman may love an artist whose wife she is ever so
much, and even do what is called believe in her hus-
band, still she cannot have the perfect certainty of
victory which is in his heart. And if she had wanted
to comfort me — a wife to pity her husband for his non-
success — ugh ! I cannot think what a hell that would
have been, at least to me ... It has been for the
best," he added.

However, the subject was not a painful one with

him, for it was his habit to inform inquiring ladies,

" It is my misfortune still to be unmarried,

Unmarried thank God ! " Widmann, who now resides in

Rome, also relates the following anecdote : —

" I had a cook who possessed the melodious name of
Mora. No other woman in Rome could equal her

no

The Man

palatable preparation of cauliflower and/^w/ (^0x0. My
friend Brahms and the noted surgeon Billroth paid me
a visit one day, and I invited them to a Roman break-
fast which was prepared by Mora inimitably. The wine
was good, and Billroth, raising his glass, cried out
enthusiastically, ' Oh ! Horace hath quaffed these
draughts ! ' Brahms, however, who was busy analysing
the food, fell into a reverie, and after some time re-
marked that it might be his duty to select a wife who
could cook in such excellent style as Mora. 'This
girl should really be married,' he repeated as his
good humour increased. I then took the liberty,
by way of a joke, of calling the girl out of the
kitchen, and telling her that I had found a suitor for
her hand.

" ' Who is he ? ' asked Mora, anxiously.

" ' This renowned German artist here. He ought to
suit you, for you also love music and sing all day like a
lark.'

" Mora's reply was startling. She measured Brahms
from head to foot, and answered with the utmost
hauteur, ' I am a Roman, born on the
Ponte Rotto, near the Temple of Vesta '■' Bar-

. . . I shall never marry a Bar- barian"
barian ! ' "

Hugo Conrat, of London, who knew Brahms in-
timately during the last ten years of his life, says that
he felt the loneliness of his bachelorhood very keenly
at times. "Yes, you lucky fellow," he would often

Brah

ms

exclaim, "you are going to the bosom of your family,
while I, poor, lonesome bachelor ! . . ."

As is well known, Brahms never wrote an opera,
possibly because he never found a libretto to his taste,

but there is no doubt that he contem-
Fond of the plated writing one or more. He was an
Theatre indefatigable theatre-goer, never missing the

first performance of any play of importance
in Vienna, and possessed extraordinary dramatic in-
stinct, pathos particularly affecting him. He was moved
to tears by the nobility of sentiment in Goethe's
Geschwister, which he saw in Vienna with Widmann
in 1 88 1. For opera he seemed to care less, for he
often left after the first act, urging as his excuse,
"You know I understand nothing about the theatre."
During the last twenty years of his life he generally
avoided operatic performances entirely, though he was
always eager when speaking of subjects relating to the
theatre.

He believed that it was not only unnecessary but
positively harmful and inartistic to compose music for

an entire drama ; only the climaxes should
Theories be so treated, or those parts where words
concern- alone would not suffice to express the mean-
ing Opera ing. He considered it great presumption to

expect music to accompany purely dramatic
dialogue throughout several acts. He felt that by con-
fining the music to special parts of the operas, the
librettist gains more time and freedom for the dramatic

112

The Man

development and the composer is enabled to devote
himself exclusively to the demands of his art.

Nevertheless, the idea of an opera haunted him for
a long time, for early in his career he spoke
about a very curious text for an opera, and Operatic
later asked Widmann to look over Gozzi's Possi-

dramatic fables and farces, especially " Konig bilities

Hirsch" and " Der Rabe." "Das laute
Geheimniss " also interested him in Gozzi's version.

Widmann read " Konig Hirsch " over carefully, and
wrote to Brahms expressing doubts as to the possibility
of using it for an opera libretto, but still
was entirely ready to go ahead if Brahms "Konig
so wished. In November 1877 Brahms Hirsch"
wrote back, " I am waiting in vain for a
quiet moment in which to think over your suggestions.
In the meantime I must at least send you my heartiest
thanks. ... As for me, I have so often vowed never
again to think of a libretto — that I should be so easily
tempted thereto ! But my inertia in the matter has
certainly increased though I cannot say whether it has
done so in other respects ! So it would really be wiser
for you not to think of me at all, still it would be nice
if the subject interested you and you gave it some
further thought. ... I should at first chiefly think of
the Dialogue and Secco-Recitative — or rather at present
it would seem a matter of indifference to me how the
action was developed except in emotional climaxes.
"At all events let us both think the matter over until
H 113

Brahms

the spring, when I shall be free to choose where to spend
the summer. If you can spare the time let me know
what ideas you have."

In the next year Widmann sent the outline of a
libretto to Vienna, but received no reply until after the
appearance of the Second Symphony (in November 1878).
" Oh ! Konig Hirsch ! He is still lying on my table !
I do not deserve it, but have you occasion-
"■ Konig ally given it a thought? Heartiest greet-
Hirsch " ings and don't be angry with your Johannes
Defunct Brahms."

Here the matter ended.
Some years later Widmann again wrote him that it
had been reported that they were collaborating on an
opera. Brahms replied under date of Janu-
Marriage ary 7, 1888, "Have I never told you of
and my good resolutions, father of my Johanna ? "

Opera (Widmann's daughter whom Brahms also

called his bride). "Amongst these to try
neither an opera again nor marriage. Otherwise, I
think I should immediately undertake two (that is
operas) 'Konig Hirsch' and 'Das laute Geheimniss.'
Of the latter I have even a libretto ready, made years
ago by that same engraver in copper, Allgeier, who has
now written those good essays on Feuerbach. Now if
you, dear friend, have downright liberal views and
principles, you will easily see how much money I save
and can spare for a journey in Italy — if in the summer
I neither marry nor buy a libretto." He several times

114

The Man

later alluded to opera, and always had a soft spot in his
heart for the plays named, but the matter never went
any further.

Brahms' theories concerning the music drama were
of course diametrically opposed to those of Wagner, for
whom, however, he had great admiration
and appreciation. He especially admired As a

Wagner's lofty aims, and spoke of his music Wagnerite
dramas as " Great works, so ideally con-
ceived and executed." He called himself, "The best
of Wagnerites," and rejoiced in the honours showered
upon Wagner, believing that the position of every
musician had been raised by them. Hanslick, the
great Viennese critic, states that Brahms' comprehen-
sion of Wagner's scores was probably more profound
than that of any other man, Wagner himself only
excepted, and that he often heard Brahms defend
Wagner against hostile criticism.

Wagner, on the other hand, could find no good word
to say about Brahms, but once said of him, " Brahms
is a composer whose importance lies in his
not wishing to create any striking effects." Wagner
Wagner treated his contemporaries with the as a

greatest animosity, and was particularly Brahmsite
caustic towards Brahms' works. Once when
someone reported some fresh sarcasm of Wagner to
Brahms, he exclaimed, "Good heaven! Wagner
honoured and triumphant, takes up most of the high
road. How can I, going my own modest way, be any

115

Brahms

interference or annoyance to him ? Why cannot he
leave me in peace since we are never likely to clash ? "

He one day showed Heuberger Wagner's own manu-
script of Tannhduser, and pointing to the second act

said, "Just look at this. Wagner has written
Praise of the five sharps with painful accuracy on
Wagner each staff of every page, and in spite of

the precision the handwriting is free and
flowing. If he could write it so neatly it would not
hurt you to do so also. . . . What nonsense ! Those
who have gone somewhat astray through his influence
have done so through their own misinterpretation of
Wagner; of the true Wagner they know absolutely
nothing. Wagner has as clear a head as ever there
was in the world." (Brahms was severe in reproof but
warm in praise, as is evident from these few remarks.
The first was the result of his tremendous seriousness ;
the second of his unusual kindness of heart.)

For all his admiration of Wagner, Brahms could not
always agree with him, nor did he invariably praise.

Concerning the " Ring " he said, " I myself
Attitude must confess that Die Walkilre and Das
towards Goiterdcimmerufig have a great hold on
Wagner me. For Das Rheitigold and Siegfried I do

not particularly care." Of some parts of
Siegfried he said at another time, " I am sure nobody
would see anything particular in it if one of us had
written it. . . . And those endless duets ! " For
Tristan he had a particular dislike, saying, " If I look

ii6

The Man

at that in the morning I am cross for the rest of the
day." But, in spite of differences of opinion such as
these, the Viennese master never failed to express his
profound respect for his great rival, the magnitude of
whose intentions and his energy in carrying them out
calling forth his unbounded praise. Many ardent Wag-
nerites have accused Brahms of jealousy, but the charge
cannot be proven. The consensus of opinion among
his intimates is that he envied no one. He felt secure
in his own position, and was of too noble a mind to
begrudge others their success.

He was loud in his praises of Mozart's Figaro, and
spoke of the works of the great masters with deepest
veneration, but with his contemporaries he
was as stern a judge as with himself. P'or Mozart
Verdi he felt genuine admiration. Upon atid Verdi
once hearing Von Biilow speak in disparaging
terms of Verdi's "Requiem," Brahms went immediately
to Hug's music store (Zurich), and, obtaining the piano
score, read it through. When he had finished it he said,
" Billow has made a fool of himself for all time : only a
genius could have written that."

The unfortunate Goetz, whose first meeting with
Brahms was rather unpropitious, died at an early age,
of consumption. His posthumous opera,
Francesca da Rimini, was first performed at Goetz's

Mannheim in September 1877. Brahms Opera

journeyed all the way from Vienna to this
first performance, thus showing the deep sympathy he

117

Brahms

felt with the ideal aspirations and tragic fate of this pro-
mising young composer.

Hanslick says of him : " Brahms, who supports with
word and deed every serious ambition of a pronounced
talent — unnoticed, silently as Schumann used to do —
procured a publisher for Dvofak, whose modesty amounts
to bashfulness."

SILHOUETTE OK BRAHMS

ii8

Brahms : The Musician

As a musician Brahms attained first rank in every
department toward which he directed his
energies, and his activities included practi- His

cally every field of musical endeavour, except Versatility
dramatic composition.

As pianist, conductor and composer of vocal, piano,
chamber and orchestral music, his mastership is undis-
puted. As an exponent of absolute music
he stands as probably the most heroic figure Exponent
of the nineteenth century, after Beethoven, of Absolute
The term "absolute music" may be mis- Music

leading. Brahms' contention was that music
ought to be so true to life that no words or programme
are necessary to explain its meaning. If they are neces-
sary, it is a confession that music falls short of the ideal.
There have been others of his contemporaries who may
have rivalled him in particular directions,
but none outshone him, and no one achieved Much in
such high standing along so many lines, or Common
attained to such colossal mastery of the with

technique of expression. Having much in Browning
common with Browning, in that he deals
with the larger, deeper emotions which are less intelligible
to the masses, his works are marked by a dramatic
intensity resulting from terseness of expression, which

119

Brah

ms

seems at times almost harsh. No modern composer has
expressed deeper or more fervent feelings, either jubi-
lant or sad, than Brahms. He was a composer "in the
grand style." ^ " Since Beethoven we hardly find anyone
so free from all that is trite and commonplace in his
music ; no artist possesses in so great a degree the virtue
of self-restraint, or is so averse to all that fascinates by
merely external or transient attractions."

Brahms is thoroughly modern, but is never a revolu-
tionist ; his works are a " modern conservative force in

music." "While we have a warrior like
Thoroughly Wagner to slay the dragon of Philistinism,
Modern we have a genius like Brahms to give modern

significance to classical forms." To him art
was something sacred, worthy of his highest effort and
noblest purpose. His work from the beginning is naive
and simple, and displays no reformatory tendencies ; it
is remarkable for its power and energy, and its consistent
adherence to the main idea.

His music always shows the chastening control of his
massive intellect. His earlier works exhibit romantic

tendencies, a leaning towards the " music of
Early the future " — in this vein he was earnestly

Works commended by Liszt — and are character-
Romantic ised by an over-maturity, a leaning toward
in Tendency over-display of erudition, which disappeared

in his works beginning with Op. ii (which
is sometimes said to mark the beginning of his "second

' " The real epic touch, the white Alpine subHtnity of Beethoven's
Mass in D, or Brahms' Schicksalslied." — Hadow.

The Musician

period "). Ample and effective use of syncopations, a
peculiar style of accompaniments, bold modulations and
rhythmic devices, and occasionally even some pro-
grammatic suggestions, occur in his first work. His
growth was toward clearness and the abandonment of
those characteristics least pleasing to superficial hearers.
It is significant that thirty years after its first pubhcation
Brahms recomposed Op. 8 (Trio for Piano, Violin
and 'Cello), and the corrections in nearly every case
took the form of simplifications. His character through-
out is marked by a native ruggedness, and it was prob-
ably this trait which enabled him to live so long in
Vienna without losing his individuality. There is a
vein of reposeful, reflective humour, which corresponds
to the dry wit of literary art, which is Brahms' very own.

Brahms is a master of detail — in fact, he is more
detailed and minute than any other master.^ This, with
his great command of the resources of
counterpoint, has earned him the title of Master of
" Modernised Bach," a title which, if it had Detail

not offended him as smacking of flattery,
would have pleased him very much. Until the time of
his death it could be said that his influence was deeply
rather than widely felt ; but since that event there has
been a great spread of both his influence and apprecia-
tion, so that there is to-day almost as strong a Brahms'
cult in England and America as in Germany itself.

As a pianist he attained first rank. He was a virtuoso

' " Brahms is a poet, intent on weaving a network of beautiful
thoughts around his ideal." — Hadow.

121

Brahms

of great power and brilliant technique. His execution
of Bach, especially the organ works on the
As a piano, was unrivalled among his contempor-

Pianist aries. He played not so much to the
listeners as for himself, appearing as if in-
spired, his great technique being always a secondary
consideration. One who heard him play his D minor
Concerto, when still in his prime, described the perform-
ance as wonderful. " He would lift his hands up high,
and let them come down with a force like that of a
lion's paw." Another says: "His playing is powerful
and soft, full of pith and meaning, and never louder
than it is lovely."

This force which always characterised his playing
later degenerated into something not quite so admirable,
as Dr William Mason writes about a per-
His formance in 1880: "Brahms' playing was

Playing in far from finished or even musical. His tone
18S0 was dry and devoid of sentiment, his inter-

pretation inadequate, lacking style and con-
tour. It was the playing of a composer and not a
virtuoso. He paid little, if any, attention to the marks
of expression upon the copy. The continued force and
harshness of tone quite overpowered the string instru-
ments." For all that, the fact remains that so long as
he continued to appear upon the concert platform,
Brahms' playing always gave pleasure to his audiences,
and he was invariably greeted with enthusiasm.

As a conductor Brahms was most inspiring, leading
122

The Musician

with firmness and authority, and spurring on those

under his baton to their best efforts.

" Both as performer and conductor he As a

always appeared as if inspired, and in- Conductor

spiring everybody who sang or played

under him or listened. At the pianoforte or desk he

was a king, but socially unaffected and easy, neither

reticent nor predominating in conversation, jolly and

kind among friends and children."

Brahms was the last great composer of the classical
school.' In spite of strong modern tendencies, he was
utterly opposed to the so-called " New
German School." He stood for the system- Last Great
atic principle of musical form. In style Classical
and construction he displayed a power now Composer
quite unique. He was always a master,
never drawn from the main idea, in spite of the wealth
of episode and secondary thought. Music to him was
so entirely a means of expression that he made mere
sensuous beauty a secondary consideration, always sub-
ordinate to the thought to be expressed. Hence a lack
of grace and a density which often characterise his
compositions. His work was wonderfully condensed,
his constructive power masterly. By his scholarly de-
velopment of themes he seems to be introducing new
thematic material, when the fact is he is gradually un-
folding and expanding the possibilities of the original
theme to the uttermost. His treatment is exhaustive

■ " Few compositions are perfect unless they have been signed by
Beethoven or Brahms." — Hadow.

Brahms

and complete, especially in his later pianoforte composi-
tions. In all that relates to the intellectual faculty
Brahms is indisputably a master, though he sometimes
exhibits a lack of feeling for the purely sensuous side
of music — for clear, rich tone combinations.

With the exception of Wagner, Brahms was pre-
eminent among the musicians of his time
Climax of for the definite nature of his individuality.
Modern He appeared as the climax of modern
Musical musical thought, standing, as it were, upon
Thought the shoulders of Schumann, whose musical
character he seems to have inherited to
a great extent.

Spitta says: "No musician was better read in his
art, or more constantly disposed to appropriate all that
was new, especially all newly - discovered
Spitta^s treasures of the past. His passion for
Estimate learning wandered, indeed, into every field,
and resulted in a rich and most original
culture of mind, for his knowledge was not mere
acquirement, but became a living and fruitful thing."

Ferris says of him : " The perfect blending of intel-
lect with emotion, of modern feeling and sympathy with
old-fashioned conscience, thoroughness and symmetry
of form, belong to Brahms alone among modern com-
posers." Maitland writes : " No composer has invented
lovelier melodies, or set them in more delightful sur-
roundings. His music is marked by a felicitous com-
bination of intense earnestness of aim and nobility, of

124

The Musician

ideal with the passionate ardour that is characteristic of
Southern countries."

By the average Ustener many of his works have been
regarded as uninteUigible. Even among cultivated
musicians he has been severely criticised as
lacking in melodic invention, a criticism Repeated
that the most superficial study alone could Hearing
justify. His fertility of invention and atten- necessary
tion to detail was so great, and he wove his
melodies so intricately, that many hearings are necessary
to discover the real contents of his works. Within the
past generation this has come to be much more gener-
ally understood, until now intelligent musicians regard
his works as among the loftiest and most spiritual con-
ceptions that have ever been expressed in musical forms.

As Oscar Bie says of Brahms: "He worked in the
world of tone with no trace of virtuosity, with not a
suspicion of concession to the understand-
ing of the mere amateur. There has, in our No Con-
time, been no music written so free from cessions
the slightest condescension." "Stubborn,
at times repellent, even in her smiles not very gracious,
his music seeks to make no proselytes; but whomso-
ever she wins as a friend she holds fast, and allows that
rarest of pleasure — the pursuit of lofty aims and the
quiet rapture of a student."

As a symphonist Brahms ranks among the greatest.^
His command of the technique of composition was

'"The great symphonic writers, Beethoven, Brahms and
Mozart." — Hadow.

125

Brahms

absolute, his sense of rhythm perfect. No other com-
poser has introduced so many innovations
Sense of of melody and harmony and rhythm ; no
Rhythm other composer has ever exhibited so
great variety of rhythm. Not a virtuoso in
orchestration, he clothed his thoughts in the language
best suited to their expression. Colour plays a second-
ary part with him, hence the instrumentation often
seems gray and subdued beside that of more vivid
colorists; but for all that he is a master at "musical
landscape painting," and, in his Gipsy Rondo, Gipsy
Songs, and similar compositions, has at his command
a wealth of "local colour." His thought is essentially
orchestral in style. Von Biilow says of him : " In Bach
we always hear the organ ; in Beethoven, the orchestra ;
in Brahms, both organ and orchestra."

The Symphony in D (No. 2) is strongly marked with
Brahms' own individuality. The Fourth seems in a
measure a return to romanticism. It dis-
Character- plays those rare combinations of intellect
istics of and emotion, modern feeling, and old-
Symphonies fashioned skill, which are the very essence
of Brahms' style. The First Symphony of
Brahms has been called the Tenth, as though it were
the next in development after the Ninth — and greatest
— of Beethoven ; ^ there may also have been some refer-
ence to the similarity in the first theme in the Finale of
each, though it is not likely that Brahms would ever be
accused of plagiarism, as he was nothing if not original,

' "We have at last a Tenth Symphony." — Von B3low.
126

The Musician

and was the soul of honesty itself. His is truly the
" Music of the Future," for the world is just beginning
to appreciate it : no modern composer has expressed
deeper or more fervent emotion.

As a composer for the pianoforte Brahms had little
in common with the great majority of his contem-
poraries. For programme music in general
he cared little. His mind ran naturally to Works for
polyphony, so that he was the greatest Piano

master of counterpoint since Bach. He
had Beethoven's wealth of musical ideas, and Bach's
skill in handling them. He was a scholar of scholars ;
yet with all his perfection of art, the effect was 7iot that
of technique as an end, but as the vehicle for the
promulgation of his musical ideas. Hence his music
was not dry bones, but the living, breathing product of
a lavish imagination. The Intermezzo in E flat (Op.
1 1 8) is perhaps the most eloquent expression of the
tragic in all pianoforte music. His compositions are
extremely difficult, requiring an excellent technique for
their adequate performance, so that many are beyond
the reach of any but the greatest virtuosi. But they
are thoroughly pianistic — not orchestral thoughts written
for the piano — modern, and withal original. They are
not popular with concert players, because they lack the
superficial brilliancy of effect which would make them
instantaneously successful. It is evident that this had a
great deal to do with their slow growth in popularity.

In the latter part of his career the larger portion of
127

Brahms

his compositions were vocal pieces for one or more

voices. He published seven books of songs
Songs from 1880 to 1887, exclusive of quartets and

romances for mixed chorus. These songs
are characterised by intense expression, profusion of
melody of the highest order, and subtle treatment of
popular sentiment. As a song-writer Brahms stands
alone, and it is his songs that first won him general
appreciation. He was specially fertile and original in
this field, which was perhaps due in part to the fact
that he seldom set poems that had been set by other
composers.

" In his songs he recalls Schubert in the abundance
and charm of melody, Schumann in the delicacy and

truth of detail, and Franz in the neatness of
JVof a)i elaboration, yet he cannot be looked upon
Imitator as an imitator of any of these composers ;

he is still independent and original." He
began where Schumann left off. His vocal melody is
most expressive, and, as a rule, independent of the
accompaniment. If he had written nothing but the
songs, he would be entitled to rank among the greatest
composers of all time.

" The good taste which invariably guided
Authors him in the choice of words demands poetry
of His of sterling value that vibrates in the heart."

Songs Hence his songs were set to words by the

greatest of German lyric poets — such as
Goethe, Holty, Tieck, Simrock, Kopisch, Hoffmann

128

The Musician

von Fallersleben, Von Platen, Daumer, Schenkendorff,
Eichendorff, Kl. Groth, Morike and Schiller.

If there were any need to refute the criticism that
Brahms lacked in melodic invention, the figures alone
would be sufficient. To publish more than
two hundred songs, which arc recognised the Great

world over as serious and successful settings of Number of
the texts chosen, is in itself ample guaranty Songs

of the melodic fertility of the composer. Un-
like Schubert's songs, which were largely improvisations —
he wrote as many as eight in a single day — Brahms' were
carefully constructed with utmost fidelity to the text.

Among the best known of Brahms' songs are: "O
versenk," "Sonett," "An ein Aeolsharfe," "Maria's
Kirchgang," "Wie bist du, meine Konigen,"
" Ruhe, Siisse-Liebchen," ''Von ewiger Best

Liebe," " Mainacht," " Botschaft," " Wiegen- known

lied" (the well-known lullaby), "Perlen- Songs

schnur," "O komme, holde Sommernacht,"
" Damm'rung senkte sich von Oben," " Regenlied,"
" Erinnerung," "Meine Liebe ist Griin," "Das liebsten
Schwur," "Minnelied," " Vergebliches Standchen,"
"Therese," " Sapphische Ode," "Wir wandelten, wir
zwei zusammen."

Of the duets and quartets the best known are: "Die
Meere," " Die Nonne und der Ritter," " Die Schwestern,"
"Die Boten der Liebe," " Hiit du dich," "Edward,"
" So lass uns wandern," " Der Gang zum Liebchen," " Ich
schwing mein Horn ins Jammerthal," "Der Abend."
I 129

Brah

ms

In the field of choral composition Brahms was a
giant. His style is sometimes almost reminiscent of
Palestrina; then, again, in its polyphonic
Choral treatment, with its canons and fugues, it
Works suggests Bach ; and yet, again, he writes

with the simplicity of the German folk-song
singer. Many of his smaller sacred works were not
meant to be sung in service, but simply render in artistic
form the sentiments evoked by the words. The " German
Requiem," his masterpiece, is a song of hope, by the ex-
altation of its mood and treatment, rather than of death.'
In the department of chamber music Brahms is
without a rival among modern German composers.
His chamber works are the loftiest ex-
Chamber amples in this form since Beethoven. The
Music "String Sextet" (Op. i8) is the greatest

work in that form since Beethoven. The
" Pianoforte Quintet " is unexcelled by any work in that
form in all the literature of music.

His activities as a composer covered practically every

field except opera,which he never attempted.

No Ground Hence it is evident that the very bitter con-

for Com- troversy which raged for many years between

parisonwith\\\Q. so-called Brahmsites and Wagnerites

Wagner was entirely without reason, as the fields of

activity of the two masters were in no sense

similar, and do not admit of comparison.

His final rating among the Olympian gods of music

' Like its composer, it is essentially German in spirit ; there
exists no other Requiem that is so thoroughly German as lirahms'.

130

The Musician

is entirely creditable to Brahms. Famous critics speak
of him as " Unrivalled among his contem-
poraries in choral and chamber music," Final
"The greatest German musician after Wag- Rating
ner," and in other equally flattering terms.
Von Billow considered him one of the three immortal B's
— Bach and Beethoven being the other two — announc-
ing as his musical creed : " I believe in Bach the Father,
Beethoven the Son, and Brahms the Holy Ghost of music."

Tschaikowsky, on the other hand, never became a
Brahmsite. In 187 1 he wrote: "Brahms has not ful-
filled the obligations which Schumann laid
upon him."' In 1878 he heard some new Tschai-
work by Brahms, and said the enthusiasm kowsky
it aroused among German critics was in- not a

comprehensible to him. Tschaikowsky Brahmsite
esteemed him very highly for his serious-
ness and sincerity, and his contempt for superficial
success, but had not much sympathy with his music,
finding it cold and dry. Even after repeatedly playing
Brahms' works the impression was not much modified.
"I deeply revere " (he writes) " the artistic personality
of Brahms. I bow to the actual purity of his musical
tendencies, and admire his firm and proud renuncia-
tion of all tricks . . . but I do not care for his music."

Nevertheless he sought an " intimate acquaintance
with the very attractive personality of Brahms," and on
December 26, 1887, they met at the house of Brodsky,

■ If he had nol done so, Schumann's article would never have
become famous.

131

Brah

ms

the violinist, where Brahms was rehearsing the Piano-
forte Trio (Op. loo). Tschaikowsky writes
But liked of him as follows : ' He is an unusually
Brahms pleasing and attractive man, and all who have
come in contact with him are inspired by
warm affection and devotion. He possesses a rare and
pleasing modesty ... A rather short man, suggests
a sort of amplitude, and possesses a very sympathetic
appearance ... A certain softness of outline, pleasing
curves, rather long and slightly grizzled hair, kind grey (!)
eyes, and thick beard freely sprinkled with white. His
manner is very simple, free from vanity, his humour
jovial, and the few hours spent in his society left a very
agreeable recollection . , . Like all my Russian musical
friends, without exception, I only respected in Brahms an
honourable, energetic musician of strong convictions ; but
in spite of all efforts to the contrary, I never could and
never can admire his music. There is something dry,
cold, vague and nebulous, repellent to Russian
hearts. From our Russian point of view Brahms
does not possess melodic invention . . . not
weak or unremarkable. His style is always
Brahms^ elevated."

Attitude Brahms in his turn was too sincere to pre-

toward tend to any appreciation of Tschaikowsky's
Tschai- works. He went especially to Hamburg to
kowsky hear Tschaikowsky's Fifth Symphony, and
after the concert invited him to dinner. After
Brahms had entertained him most hospitably, he confided
132

The Musician

to Tschaikowsky with quiet sincerity that he didn't like the
symphony at all. He spoke so simply that Tschaikowsky
didn't feel at all hurt, but was encouraged to retort in kind.
They parted excellent friends, but never met again.

DvoMk used to speak with tears in his eyes of the
warm interest Brahms showed in him at a time when his
(Dvorak's) compositions found neither pub-
lishers nor performers, and of the powerful Dvorak's
support Brahms gave him and what energy Gratitude
he exhibited in sounding the depths of the
unknown genius of his Slavonic brother in art. Not
that Brahms entirely sympathised with all that Dvorak
did or tried to do, but he felt that here was an original
mind that deserved encouragement.

The appreciation and diffusion of his works is steadily
increasing. For many years the seat of the greatest
Brahms cult was in Hamburg, partly be-
cause he was born there, and partly because Growth in
of the anti-Wagner feeling there. Since the Poptdarity
appearance of the " German Requiem " in
1868 every new work published by Brahms became an
event in the musical life of Germany, ind even in
England and America, where most of his greatest works
have been given. The Hungarian Dances are one of
the most popular compositions that the orchestral re-
pertoire contains. While the themes are not Brahms'
own, it is to his briUiant handling that they owe their
vogue; he and Liszt may be said to have opened the
music of Hungary to the world.

133

Brahms

It might be interesting to see what the rabid anti-
Brahmsites have to say about our subject. It is, perhaps,
better not to draw from German sources, for
Afiti- there the strife was fiercest and the feeling

Brahmsiie most unreasoningly bitter. But two choice
Verdict bits are here appended, one from an English,
and another from an American source.

J. F. Runciman, an English critic, has this to say : —

" He had not the intellect of an antelope," yet in the
next breath he speaks highly of Brahms' songs and
many other works. Then he goes on to
J. F. say : " He had not a great matter to utter.

Ruticiman If ever a musician was born a happy, care-
less, romanticist, that musician was Brahms "
... " He assumed the pose and manner of a master
telling us great things, and talked like a pompous duflfer.
Brahms was not cast in the big mould, and he spent a
good deal of his later time in pitying himself " (!!)...
" Much of Brahms' music is bad and ugly music, dead
music ; it is counterfeit, and not the true and perfect
image of life indeed, and it should be buried or cre-
mated at the earliest opportunity . . ." " But much of
it is wonderfully beautiful. All his music is irreproach-
able from the technical point of view. Brahms is cer-
tainly with Bach, Mozart and Wagner in point of
musicianship ; in fact, these four might be called the
greatest masters of sheer music who have ever lived."
(Where do Beethoven or one or two others come in ?)

H. T. Finck, an American critic and a pronounced
134

The Musician

Wagnerite, calls Brahms' music "musical small-talk,

meaningless twaddle," and declares Brahms

to be " a great dressmaker — a musical H. T.

Worth," and that he owes his vogue not Finck

to any virtue of his own, but solely to the

fact that the anti-Wagnerites pitched on him as their

champion. However, even he declares that Brahms'

" technical virtuosity puts him on a level with the

greatest masters."

If genius is an "infinite capacity for taking pains,"
then assuredly Brahms is one of the very greatest among
all the master musicians. Certainly none of
the great composers was more consistently Con-

painstaking in the development of his sistently
material. Even in his largest works the Pains-
attention to detail is amazing ; his mastery taking

of detail is unsurpassed. A theme was to
him what the name indicates, a subject which was to be
worked out, shown in all its lights ; developed from all
sides and in all directions so far as logically possible ;
not simply to be stated and reiterated a few times and
then left for an entirely new idea.

Brahms was eminently the logician among musicians ;
a theme was useful to him only so far as it
could become the basis of a logically-thought- Musical
out work of art. Rich in inspiration, he Logician
yet subjected his ideas to such severely
rigorous discipline that, by the time the finished pro-

135

Brahms

duct left his hands, there remained nothing but the
aesthetic, some times almost ethereal, work of art, with-
out a trace of the cheap or commonplace.

No composer wrote and thought habitually on a higher
plane. Therein lay both his strength and his weakness.

Undoubtedly there is not the same appeal to
No Appeal the popular mind in his works that one finds
to the in Schubert, who is so intensely human

Popular that he frequently verges on the banal, or in
Mind Haydn or Mendelssohn, whose geniality kept

them ever on good terms with their fellow-
men, or even in Wagner, whose whole life was devoted
to the portrayal of the more fervid emotions. Not
that Brahms is not human or genial or fervid, but these
qualities are not so obvious in him as in these others.
Undoubtedly the appreciation of Brahms was at first,
and still to a great measure remains, a matter of the
chosen few, the inner circle of the musically elect who
can comprehend his message. For '0/ voXkoi he has no
message, nor, though he was at heart a great lover of
his kind, did he ever attempt to win their suffrages.
The highest ideal of artistic excellence was ever his
goal, and under no consideration would he make any
concessions to popular taste. Not that he never tried
to meet the people half-way ; on the contrary, his devo-
tion to folk-music is sufificient refutation of any such
charge. Indeed, there is often a combination of
popular elements with the most artistic and compli-
cated forms which characterise much of Brahms' music.

136

'V g

The Musician

But even when writing for the people, or using their songs
as the basis for his compositions, the highest artistic treat-
ment was accorded them ; so that, though he might, for
reasons of his own, make use of the most commonplace
themes, they passed through a process of treatment that
transmuted them into works of art of the highest
order.

There is only one way in which such a master can
ever become widely appreciated, and that is by edu-
cating audiences up to his level. The
mountain will not come to Mahomet, so Educate
Mahomet must perforce go to the mountain. Audie ices
Here we have a master whose message is up to

still largely in the future. The past could Brahms
not comprehend him ; the present is striving
hard to reach his level ; it remains to the future to in-
terpret his message to the world. That his works are
at last beginning to be understood is best attested by
the fact that the " German Requiem," his masterpiece,
which was given last season (1903-1904) in New York,
is to be repeated again during the season of 1904- 1905.

The style of Brahms is first and always polyphonic ;
Bach is his model as regards technical treatment of his
material, Beethoven as regards form, and, to
a certain extent, Schumann and Schubert Uncompro-
as regards musical content. In his works, misi?igly
especially earlier in his career, there was Classical
often a romantic note, a new peculiar mode
of expression, full of poetic sentiment, but as regards

137

Brah

ms

form and development, his is always an uncompromis-
ingly classical manner. For "programme music" and
the "free" form which has resulted therefrom, he had
no use ; caprice had no place in his art views. Art was
too sacred a matter with him for any blatant realism or
personal whim, or foolish attempt at story-telling. That
there is no virtue in dramatic music he would have been
the last to contend, for he wrote reams of it himself;
but it is dramatic in an abstract way, and makes no
attempt to tell or illustrate a story ; it simply portrays
emotions by means of musical tones, which is all that
music can do or has any right to try to do.

As for the details of composition, he made use of very
few technical methods that were not generally known
and accepted by composers ; only his accent
Details of upon certain particular styles of treatment
Treatment gave his works a decidedly individual char-
acter. All the resources of harmonic colour,
of contrapuntal development and of rhythmic accent were
at his command, and he used them all like the consum-
mate master that he was. Transposition, modulation,
inversion, augmentation, diminution — all the familiar
devices of thematic development were well-known to him
and furnished means for the expression of his genius.
Fugues and double fugues flowed from his pen with
utmost facility, the canon was a commonplace — in a
word, all the wealth of polyphonic material and sug-
gestion which the mediaeval monks had evolved after
centuries of labour were by him translated into modern

138

The Musician

terms and utilised in the production of art works which
mark the pinnacle of human achievement along their
particular lines.

This is not to say that Brahms is the greatest of all
composers ; the very elements of his strength would
make that impossible ; for of sensuous beauty, which
is after all perhaps the chief charm of music, there is too
often not enough. Any artist who elevates intellect
over emotion and the humanities has by
that sign made it impossible for himself to Not the
achieve the very highest rank, for the Greatest
greatest of all art must necessarily be Musidafi
emotion regulated by intellect, not intellect
emotionalised. Therefore, while Brahms has given us
much music that is beautiful, considerable that is sur-
passingly beautiful, and none that is cheap or weak,
there is too much of the philosopher and scholar about
much of his work to make him ever the musical idol.
But for just that reason he will ever be a source of
inspiration, a model for succeeding generations of
musicians.

Perhaps the most striking characteristic, apart from
his conscientious intellectuality, is his modernity. Par-
taking more or less of the characteristics of
many of the masters who went before him Brahms
— Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Schu- and Other
bert have already been mentioned, while in Composers
the " Triumphlied'^ one sees traces of the
influence of Handel ; in the Second Symphony a

139

Brah

ms

Mozartean character ; in the Serenades a Haydnesque
clearness of structure ; and in the Scherzos a humour as
naive as Haydn's, though expressed in more modern
language — yet there is in the musical style and content
no harking back to a former period ; everything is
modern and up-to-date (though occasionally he fell into
the Palestrina manner in his vocal compositions). His
harmonic scheme is the most radical to be found among
all composers, Richard Strauss alone excepted, and his
rhythmic innovations are most daring — no other com-
poser has introduced so many — his melodies are modern
in the best sense of the term. Of these Niecks says :
" Brahms' melody is distinguished by purity, simplicity,
naturalness and grace."

As compared with his contemporaries, he stands head
and shoulders above them all, with the single exception

of Wagner. With Wagner there is no just
Brahms basis of comparison. Brahms never entered
and His the field of dramatic composition, and
Contem- Wagner, after his student days, never
poraries emerged from it. What either would have

done in the other's field it is useless to
conjecture. Unquestionably, there is a depth of passion
and a wealth of colour about the works of the Bayreuth
master that surpass probably anything the Viennese
has done. In these and other directions there may
have been others of Brahms' contemporaries who have
equalled or surpassed him in some single respect ; but
for lofty idealism, wealth of melodic invention and

140

The Musician

development, and consistent adherence to the highest
standards, none could equal him. Whether or not he
would have unbent more or less had he entered the
dramatic arena it is hard to say. No doubt environment
is a potent factor in the shaping of art works, as well as
of human lives ; and the exigencies of a stage production
often necessitate radical concessions upon the part of the
composer. That Brahms had the highest admiration for
Wagner in many respects, and for Verdi, there is no ques-
tion. That this admiration was not mutual, at least so
far as Wagner is concerned, is much to be regretted.

Tschaikowsky and the Russian school made little
appeal to Brahms, and he as little to them. He never
painted with the full brush ; colour, while
he never lacked for it, was still a secondary Brahms as
consideration with him, and the superabund- Colourist
ance of it which characterised the works of
the Russians and the " New Germans " seemed to him
crude and inartistic. His works are surcharged with
emotion, but it is of a deeper, more intense nature,
rather than superficial or obvious.

Brahms' chief musical sin in the eyes of the world is
his uncompromising earnestness, his unswerving loyalty
to his ideals. A little elasticity of con-
science, relaxation of vigilance, and lowering His Chief
of standards, and the people would have Musical
felt more al home; and possibly Brahms Sin

would have been heralded far and wide as
the Great Master upon whom the mantle of Beethoven

141

Brah

ms

had fallen. As Dr Louis Ehlert says ; " Brahms does not
stand before us like Mozart or Schubert, in whose eyes
we seem to look, whose hands we seem to press. Two
atmospheres lie between him and us. Twilight sur-
rounds him, his heights melt in the distance ; we are at
once allured and repelled."

As a symphonist Brahms lived up to the highest
traditions of the art. Original in details of treatment,
he accepted the general form of the Sym-
The phony as developed by Beethoven. The

Symphonies First Symphony opens with an impressive
sostenuto Introduction ; the others begin at
once with the principal subject of the Allegro. His one
important innovation in this field was the Passacaglia in
the Fourth Symphony, which was an entirely new idea
for the closing movement of a symphony. He was
also the creator of the Variation cycle as a separate
orchestral form ; and the entire metamorphosis which
the Variation form underwent in his hands is one of
his greatest contributions to the progress of Musical
Form.

His choral works, forming a most important part of
the whole body of his compositions, are marked by a
dignity and musicianship that are well-nigh
The Choral unsurpassed. Often intensely difficult, de-
Works manding both mental and physical endur-
ance and thorough preparation, they rise to
ideal heights that have been unapproached by any of his
contemporaries, and scarcely surpassed by any of the

142

The Musician

older masters. There are many touches which exhibit
originahty of the highest order, such as the repetition in
"The Song of Destiny" of the orchestral introduction
at the end of the composition, thus relieving the sombre-
ness of the poem, and leaving a hopeful impression at
the end. The " German Requiem" is undoubtedly the
greatest achievement of modern sacred music in Germany,
if not in the world.

In chamber music his mastership is perhaps most
complete ; here he is the peer of the greatest. His
name will go down in the history of chamber
music on an equality with Beethoven's. His Cha7nber
treatment of the horn and clarionet was Music, Con-
especially successful \ while in the Violin certos and
Concerto (Op. 77) the subject of the slow Sonatas
movement is an example of the composer's
invention at its greatest height; indeed, it would be
difificult to match the entire movement for melodious
beauty. His instrumental works, as a whole, are marked
by the use of excellent thematic material, rich, ingeni-
ous development, always coherent and logical, virility,
distinct contrasts and wonderful climaxes — the working-
out sections being particularly interesting and elaborate.
The concertos and sonatas for various instruments are
of surpassing merit, though as a rule none but artists of
established reputation make use of them, if for no other
reason than that he sacrificed effect to artistic perfec-
tion. For there is no display of virtuoso tricks, no
tinsel, no padding — all is solid tissue, demanding

143

Brah

ms

sterling musicianship and, in most cases, enormous
technique — with no appeal to the gallery to call forth
salvos of applause. But for musical worth and expres-
siveness, they are well worth a dozen of the more
brilliant, applause-evoking concert pieces.

The piano plays a most important part in the list of
Brahms' works, not only as a solo instrument, but in

conjunction with other instruments or the
Pianoforte human voice. Himself possessed of a most
Works remarkable technique, he makes demands

upon his pianists that frequently none but
a virtuoso of the highest rank can satisfy. The left
hand particularly plays a much more important part
with him than with most others. There are no easy
Brahms piano pieces — none for dilletanti. He demands
the best efforts of earnest musicians for his adequate
comprehension and rendition. Sonata No. i in C has
for the principal subject of the first movement almost the
same theme as Beethoven's in B fiat (Op. io6) ; but the
treatment is astonishingly original. In the Second Sonata
much originality of design is shown by using the same sub-
ject for the slow movement and the Scherzo,and by the
repetition of the Introduction to the Finale at its close.

Much praise has been bestowed upon the songs, and
they deserve all they have received, and more. " In the

' Nine Songs by Platen and Daumer ' and
Songs the ' Magelone Lieder ' is reached the

highest point in the development of the
German Lied." Unusually meritorious from a literary

144

The Musician

point of view — no other composer has chosen so many
good poems for settings — the musical treatment is
always faithful to the text, without being slavishly bound
to its every idiosyncrasy. Thoroughly vocal, melodic-
ally perfect, his songs, like his other works, are in no
sense of the word show-pieces. Brahms surpasses
Franz, the most formidable of his contemporaries, in
that he has liberated the melody from the thraldom of
the traditional four-measure formation of periods. The
accompaniments are as carefully thought out as the
songs themselves, moving independently, as a rule, and
adding immensely to the interest of the compositions —
but adding also to the difficulty in rendition.

It is much to be regretted, from the standpoint of the
popularity of his works, that Brahms did not concern
himself more with the problem of lessening
the technical difficulties in his compositions. Composi-
Unquestionably this has been, and will always tions too
remain, an important obstacle in the way of Difficult
their general appreciation. But the techni-
cal ability of artists is ever increasing, so that we may
hope for the least possible trouble from this source.

To sum up : Brahms possessed creative ability of the
highest order, an unusually keen intellect, wide culture,
and absolute mastery of technical material.
Add to this a sanity of mind and breadth Summing
of view, which have unfortunately been up

unusual among great musicians, and we
have a personality both uncommon and commanding.
K 145

Brahms

The death, first of Wagner, and later of Brahms, has
removed from the arena both the men about whom
centered a long and useless warfare ; and time
Future of is gradually assigning to each his proper place
Music in the musical Pantheon. Just what will

be the direction along which musical taste
will progress in the next century it is hard to prophesy;
but, judging from present tendencies, the influence of
Brahms upon future composers bids fair to rival Wag-
ner's, especially as regards musical structure. At any
rate, compared with the masters of the Past, it seems as
though Von Biilow had been not far wrong in ranking
Brahms with Bach and Beethoven, thereby completing
the Trinity of Musical Immortals.

A quotation in closing, and then the full stop : " Those
who are indifferent to the spiritual contents and signifi-
cance in musical forms sometimes find Brahms dull and
uninteresting, in spite of the fact that these forms are
modelled with the utmost care and represent the pro-
foundest knowledge of the art. Brahms, however, has a
royal recompense. He is generally esteemed by musi-
cians as the Titan of living composers " (this was written
in 1895) "in the mastery of the technique of composition,
and in the depth, sincerity and originality of his genius
— the reigning successor in the line of Bach and Beet-
hoven, though his field, in the main, was to be different
from theirs."

146

Appendices

Appendix A

LIST OF COMPOSITIONS

Most of the compositions of Brahms are still to be found in
the original editions, the great majority, especially those of
the latter part of his life, being published by the house of
Simrock, in Berlin. Rieter-Biedermann has also published
many important works, including the " German Requiem,"
while a few may be found upon the lists of Spina and of
Peters, and many of the earliest upon the catalogue of
Breitkopf & Hiirtel. Of course there have been reprints,
the most important being a complete de luxe edition of the
Piano Works, Violin Sonatas, Songs and Duets, and
Chamber Music, by the house of Schirmer, New York,
which has just appeared (1904).

Long before any other of Brahms' works were assimilated
by the public, the "Lullaby" (Op. 49, No. 4) had found its
way in different forms — as solo, male or female chorus, violin
solo, among others — into every corner of the land, while,
wherever an orchestra of sufficient ability could be found, the
" Hungarian Dances " proved the entering wedge for his
instrumental compositions. By this time nearly all his instru-
mental works and songs have become well known, and the
Brahms cult is every day gathering strength. In America
especially the appreciation of his works is growing by leaps
and bounds, and a considerable and important Brahms
literature is springing up.

The complete list of Brahms' works is as follows : —

Orchestral.
Opus
II. "Serenade for Full Orchestra" in D.

Allegro molto —Scherzo {allegro noft troppo)— Adagio
149

Brahms

Opus

non troppo — Two Minuets — Scherzo {allegro) —
Rondo {allegro).

1 6. " Serenade for Small Orchestra " (without Violins) in A.

Allegro moderato — Scherzo {vivace) — Adagio non

troppo — Quasi menuetto — Rondo {allegro).
(This Serenade was revised and republished in 1875.)
56A. " Variations on a Theme by Haydn " (eight in number).
68. "First Symphony for Full Orchestra" in C minor.

Un poco sostenuto, allegro — Andante sostenuto — Un
poco allegretto e grazioso — Finale {adagio, allegro
non troppo ma con brio).
73. "Second Symphony for Full Orchestra" in D.

Allegro non troppo — Adagio non troppo — Allegretto
grazioso {quasi atidantino) — Allegro con spirito.

80. "Academic Festival Overture" for Full Orchestra.

81. "Tragic Overture" for Full Orchestra.

go. " Third Symphony for Full Orchestra " in F.

Allegro con brio — Andante — Allegretto — Allegro.
98. " Fourth Symphony for Full Orchestra" in E minor.

Allegro non troppo — Andante moderato — Allegro
giocoso — Allegro energico e passionato {passa-
caglia).
" Hungarian Dances" (arranged by Brahms).

Vocal— Choral.

12. "Ave Maria," for Female Chorus, Orchestra and

Organ.

13. " Funeral Hymn," for Mixed Chorus and Wind

Orchestra.

17. "Part Songs for Female Chorus," with Two Horns

and Harp —
No. I. " Es tont ein voller Harfenklang" (I hear a
harp), ..... Ruperti.
„ 2. " Song" from Shakespear^s " Twelfth Night."
,, 3. " Der Gartner" (Greetings)

Von Eichendorff.
„ 4. " Gesang aus FingaV (Song from Fingal)

Ossian.
22. " Marienlieder," for Four-part Mixed Chorus —
150

Appendix A

Opus Part I.

No. I. "DerenglischeGruss"(Theangel'sgreeting).
„ 2. " Maria's Kirchgang" (Mary goes to church).
„ 3. "Maria's Wallfahrt" (Mary's pilgrimage).

Part 2.
„ 4. "Der Jager" (The hunter).
„ 5, " Ruf zur Maria" (Mary's calling).
„ 6. "Magdalena."
„ 7. "Maria's Lob" (Mary's praise).
27. "13th Psalm," for Three-part Female Chorus and
Organ (or Piano).

29. " Two Motets " for Five-part Mixed Chorus, a capclla —

No. I. Chorale, " Es ist das Heil uns kommen her"
(To us salvation now is come), and Fugue.
„ 2. " Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein reines Herz"
(Create in me a clean heart, O God).

30. " Sacred Song by Paul Flemming," for Four-part

Mixed Chorus with Organ or Piano (" Lass dich
nur nichts dauern").

31. "Three Quartets for Solo Voices" (S., A., T., B.), with

Piano —
No. I. "Wechsellied zum Tanze " (Invitation to
the dance) .... Goethe.

„ 2. " Neckereien " (Raillery) . Old Moravian.
„ 3. " Der Gang zum Liebchen " (Lover's
journey) ..... Bohemian.
37. " Three Sacred Choruses " for Female Voices, a
capella —
No. I. "Obone Jesu."
,, 2. "Adoremus te."
„ 3. " Regina coeli."
41. "Five Songs" (Soldatenlieder) for Four-part Male
Chorus, a capclla —
No. I. " Ich schwing mein Horn ins Jammerthal"
(I wind my horn in this vale of tears)

Old German.
(This song is also published for solo voice.)
„ 2. " Freiwillige her ! " (Volunteers advance)

Carl Lemikc.
151

Brahms

Opus

No. 3. " Geleit " (Escort) . . . Carl Lemcke
„ 4. " Marschiren" (Marching) . „

„ 5. "Gebt Acht" (Take care) . „

42. " Three Songs " for Six-part Male Chorus, a capella —
No. I. " Abendstandchen " (Evening serenade)

Clemens Brentano.

„ 2. " Vineta " W. Miiller.

„ 3. "Darthula's Grabgesang" (Darthula's burial
song) . . Herder, after Ossian.

44. " Twelve Songs and Romances " for Female Chorus,
a capella (Piano ad libitum) —

Part I.

No. I. " Minnelied" (Lovesong) . J. H. Voss.

„ 2. "Der Brautigam " (The bridegroom)

J. von Eichendorff.
„ 3. " Barcarolle " . . . . Italia7i.
„ 4. " Fragen" (Questions) . . Slavic.

„ 5. "Die Mullerin" (The millers maid)

A. von Chaniisso.
„ 6. " Die Nonne" (The nun) . . L. Uhland.

Part 2.

„ I. "Nun steh'n die Rosen" (Still stand the
roses).
(This and the three following songs are taken
from Paul Heyse's '''' Jungbrumten")
„ 2. " Die Berge sind spitz" (The mountains are

sharp).
„ 3. "Am Wild-bach die Weiden" (By the noisy

brook the willows).
„ 4. "Und gehst du iiber den Kirchhof" (And

goest thou to the churchyard).

„ 5. " Die Braut" (The bride), (from the Island of

Rijgen) . • . . With. Miiller.

„ 6. "Marznacht"(AMarchnight) . L. Uhland.

45. " German Requiem," for Soli, Chorus and Orchestra

(Organ ad libitutn).

152

Appendix A

Opus

50. " Rinaldo " (a Cantata by Goethe), for Tenor Solo, Male
Chorus and Orchestra.

53. " Rhapsodic" (Fragment from Goethe's '■'■ Har::reise im

Winter'"), for Alto Solo, Male Chorus and Orchestra.

54. " Schicksalslied " (Song of Destiny), for Chorus and

Orchestra.

55. "Triumphlied" (Song of Triumph), for Eight-part

Chorus and Orchestra (Organ ad libit icm).
62. " Seven Songs " for Mixed Chorus, a capclla—
No. I. " Rosemaren " (Rosemary)

Knabcn Wimderbuch {Childs Wonder-book).
„ 2. "Von alten Liebesliedern " (Before my fair
maid's window)
Knabcn Wundcrbuch {Child's Wonder-book).
„ 3. " Waldesnacht " (Forest gloom)

Heyse, '■'' Jungbrunnen^^
„ 4. " Dein Herzlein mild" (Thou gentle girl)

Heyse, '•'• Jungbrunnen."
„ 5. "All meine Herzengedanken " (Where'er
I go) . . Heyse, '■'■ Jimgbrunnen."
„ 6. "Es geht ein Wehen" (I hear a sighing)

Heysc, '■'■ Jungbrunnen."

„ 7. " Vergangen ist mir Gliick und Heil" (Of

ev'ry joy I am bereft) . Old German.

64. " Three Quartets " for Four Solo Voices (S., A., T., B.)

and Piano —

No. I. "An die Heimath" (To our home)

C. O. Sternau.
„ 2. " Der Abend " (Evening) . Fr. Schiller.
„ 3. " Fragen " (Questions) . G. Fr. Daumer.
74. "Two Motets " for Mixed Chorus, a capclla —

No. I. " Warum ist das Licht gegeben " (Wherefore
is light given).
„ 2. "O Heiland, reiss die Himmel auf" (O
Saviour, bid the heavens open).
82. " Nanie " (Poem by Schiller), for Chorus and Orchestra

(Harp ad libitum).
89. " Gesang der Parzen" (Song of the Fates), from Goethe's
" Iphigenia," for Six-part Chorus and Orchestra.
153

Brahms

Opus
92. " Four Quartets " for Solo Voices (S., A., T., B.) and
Piano —
No. I. "O schone Nacht" (O lovely night)

G. Fr. Daumer,
„ 2. " Spatherbst " (Late autumn)

Hermami Allmers.

„ 3. "Abendlied " (Evening song) . Fr. Hebbel.

„ 4. " Warum " (Why) . . . Goel/ie.

93A. " Six Songs and Romances " for Four-part Chorus,

a capella —

No. I. "Derbucklichte Fiedler "(The hump-backed

fiddler) . . . Rhenish Folk-song.

„ 2. " Das Madchen " (The maiden)

Siegfried Kapper {Servian)
„ 3. " O siisser Mai" (O'lovely May)

L. Achini von Arnim.
„ 4. " Fahr'wohl " (Farewell) . . Fr. Ritckert.
„ 5. " Der Falke" (The falcon)

S. Kapper {Servian).
„ 6. " Beherzigung" (Stout-hearted) . Goethe.
93B. "Tafellied" (Dank der Damen), Drinking Glee, by
Jos. von Eichendorff, for Six-part Chorus, a capella
(Piano ad libitujn).
103. "Gipsy Songs" for Four Voices (S., A., T., B.) and
Piano —
No. I. "He, Zigeuner, greife in die Saiten ein"
(Ho, gipsy, strike the chord).

2. "Hochgethiirmte Rimafluth" (High tower-
ing flood).

3. " Wisst ihr, war main Kindchen " (Know ye,
was my child).

4. " Lieber Gott, du weisst" (Dear Lord, Thou
knowest).

5. " Brauner Bursche, fiihrt zum Tanze" (Ye
swarthy lads, on to the dance).

6. " Roslein dreie in der Reihe" (There stood
three rosebuds in a row).

7. " Kommt dir manchmal in den Sinn"
(Oftentimes there comes to mind).

154

Appendix A

Opus

104. " Five Songs " for Mixed Voices, a capella —

No. I. Nachtwache : " Leise Tone der Brust "
(Night song: "Gentle tones stir the
heart").
„ 2. Nachtwache : " Ruhn sie ? ruft das Horn
des Wachters " (Rest ye ? calls the watch-
man's horn).
„ 3. " Letztes Gliick": " Leblos gleitet Blatt um
Blatt" (Last hope : " Lifeless slips blade
on blade").
„ 4. "Verlorene Jugend": "BraustenalleBerge"

(Lost youth : "Over the hills").
„ 5. "Im Herbst": "Ernst ist der Herbst"
(Autumn : " Sober is the autumn ").
109. " Drei Deutsche Fest- und Gedenkspriiche " (Three
German festival thanksgiving sentences), for
Double Chorus, a capella.
no. "Three Motets" for Four- and Eight-part mixed
Chorus, a capella.
No. I. " But I am poor."
,, 2. "Thou poor vain world deludest me."
„ 3. "When we in deep distress and grief."

112. "Six Gipsy Songs" for Four Voices (S., A., T., B),

a capella.
No. I. "Sehnsucht" (Longing).
„ 2. "Nachtens"(At Night).
„ 3-6. " Vier Zigeunerlieder " (Four Gipsy-songs).

113. "Thirteen Canons" for Female Voices and Piano.

Without Opus Number.

" Fourteen German Folk-songs " for Four-part Chorus

(1864)-

Book I.

No. I. " Von edler Art " (Of noble race).
„ 2. " Mit Lust that ichausreiten" (Lustily would

I ride forth).
„ 3. " Bei nachtlicher Weil " (During the night).
„ 4. "Vom heiligen Martyrer, Emmerano, Bis-

Brahms

Opus chofif von Regensburg" (The holy martyr,

Emmerano, Bishop of Regensburg).
No. 5. " Taublein vveiss " (O little white dove).
„ 6. "Ach lieber Herre, Jesu Christ" (O dearest

Lord).
„ 7. " Sankt Raphael " (Saint Raphael).

Book II.

No. I. " In stiller Nacht " (In night's still calm).
„ 2. "Abschiedslied" (Farewell).
„ 3. " Der todte Knabe " (The dead youth).
„ 4. " Die Wollust in die Mayer " (The pleasures

of May).
., 5. " Morgengesang " (Morning song).
„ 6. " Schnitter Tod " (The reaper, Death).
„ 7. "Der englische Jager" (The heavenly

huntsman).
" Fourteen Volks-Kinderlieder"(Children's Folk-songs),
with Piano —
No. I. " Dornroschen" (Thorn roses).
„ 2. "Die Nachtigall" (The nightingale).
„ 3. " Die Henne" (Henny-penny).
„ 4. " Sandmannchen " (The little dustman).
„ 5. "Der Mann " (Someone).
„ 6. " Haidenroslein " (Heather rose).
„ 7. " Das Schlarafifenland" (The fool's paradise).
„ 8. " Beim Ritt auf dem Knie " (A ride on the

knee).
„ g. " Der Jager im Walde" (The hunter in the

forest).
„ 10. " Das Madchenund die Hasen" (The maiden

and the hares).
„ II. " Wiegenlied " (Cradle song).
„ 12. "Weihnachten" (Christmas).
„ 13. " Marienwiirmchen" (Ladybird).
„ 14. " Dem Schutz Engel" (The guardian angel).

Vocal— Songs and Duets.

3. " Six Songs " for Tenor or Soprano with Piano —
156

Appendix A

Opus

No. I. " Liebestreu " (Constancy), (perhaps better
known as " O versenk "), . Robert Reinick
„ 2. " Liebe und Friihling" (Love and spring-
time), . . Hoffviann von Fallersleben.
„ 3. "Liebe und Friihling," IL
„ 4. "Lied aus dem Gedicht, 'Ivan'" (Song
from the poem, " Ivan ") Von Bodenstedt.
„ 5. " In der Fremde" (In a foreign land)

Von Eichendorff.
„ 6. "Lied" (Song) . • . ». m

6. "Six Songs" for Soprano or Tenor with Piano —

No. I. " Spanisches Lied " (Spanish song)

Paul Heyse.
,, 2. " Der Friihling" (The springtime)

J. B. Rousseau.
„ 3. " Nachwirkung" (Afterward)

Alfred Meissner.
„ 4 " Wie die Wolke nach der Sonne" (Like
clouds after sunshine)

Hojffmann von Fallersleben.

„ 5. "Juchhe!" (Hurrah !) . . R. Reinick.

„ 6. " Nachtigallen schwingen " (Nightingales

swinging) . Hoffmann von Fallersleben.

7. " Six Soiigs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Treue Liebe " (True love) . Ferrand.
„ 2. " Parole " (The huntsman) Vojt Eichendorff.
„ 3. " Anklange " (Fragment) „

„ 4. " Volkslied " (Folk-song) .
,, 5. " Die Trauernde'' (The mourning one)

Folk-song.
„ 6. "Heimkehr" (Return home) . Uhland.
14. "Eight Songs and Romances" for One Voice and
Piano —

No I. " Vor dem Fenster " (Neath the window)

Folk-song.
" 2. " Vom verwundeten Knabe " (The wounded

youth) Folk-song.

„ 3. " Murray's Ermordung " (Murray's murder).
Herder., '•'■ Stimmen der Volker" {Voices of
the Nations).
157

Brahms

Opus

No. 4. " Ein Sonett" (Sonnet) Thirteenth Century.
„ 5. "Trennung" (Separation) . Folk-song.
„ 6. " Gang zur Liebsten " (Lover's journey)

Folk-song.
„ 7. " Stiindchen " (Serenade) . „

„ 8. "Sehnsucht" (Yearnings) . „

19. " Five Poems " for One Voice with Piano —

No. I. "Der Kuss" (Thekiss) . I/olty.

„ 2. " Scheiden und Meiden" (Parting) Uhland.
„ 3. "In der Feme" (Parted)
„ 4. " Der Schmied " (The forge) . „

„ 5. " An eine yEolsharfe " (yEolian harp)

Morike.

20. "Three Duets for Soprano and Alto" with Piano —

No. I. " Weg der Liebe " (Way of love)

Herder., " Stimtnen der Volker."
„ "Weg der Liebe," IL
„ " Die Meere " (The two deeps).
28. " Four Duets" for Alto and Baritone with Piano —

No. I. "Die Nonne und der Ritter" (The nun and

the knight) . . . Von Eichendorff.

„ 2. "VorderThiir" (By the door) O/^ C^rwaw.

„ 3. " Es rauschet das Wasser" (The water is

rippling) Goethe.

„ 4. " Der Jager und sein Liebchen " (The
hunter and his love)

Hoffmann von Fallersleben.
yi. " Nine Songs by Aug. von Platen and G. F. Daumer "
for One Voice with Piano —

Book I.

No. I. " Wie rafft ich mich in die Nacht " (How I
raved the long night through) Von Platen.
„ 2. " Aus der Moldau" (From the Moldau)

Daumer.
„ 3. " Ich schleich' umher betriibt und stumm "
(Sad and silent I steal about) Von Platen.
,, 4. " Der Strom " (The stream) . „

158

Appendix A

Opus.

Book II.

No. 5. " Wehe, so willst du mich wieder" (Alas,
and wilt thou once again) . Von Platen.
.. 6. ■' Du sprichst, das ich mich tiiuschte "
(Thou speakst, that I might barter)

Von Platen.
„ 7. " Bitter es zu sagen" (Bitter 'tis to say)

Dauf}ter, after Hafis.
„ 8. " So stehn wir" (So stand we)

Dau7ner, after Hafis.

„ 9. "Wie bist du, meine Konigen.?" (How art

thou, my queen .?) Dattmer, after Hafis.

33. " Fifteen Romances from L. Tieck's Magelone" for

One Voice with Piano —

Book I.

No. I. " Keinen hat es noch gereut" (None have

e'er repented)
„ 2. "Traun! Bogen und Pfeil" (Faith! bow

and arrow).
„ 3. "Sind es Schmerzen, sind es Freuden " (Be

there pain or be there pleasure).

Book II.

,, 4. " Liebe kam aus fernen Linden " (Love came

from far-off lindens).
„ 5. " So willst du des armen " (So wilt thou this

poor one).
„ 6. "Wie soil ich die Freude" (How shall I the

joy)-

Book III.

„ 7. " War es dir " (Was it for thee).
,, 8. " Wir miissen uns trennen " (We must part).
„ 9. " Ruhe, Siisse-liebchen" (Rest, sweet love).
159

Brahms

Opus

Book IV.

No. lo. " So tonet denn" (So sound then).
„ II. "Wie schnell verschwindet " (How quickly

vanish).
,, 12. "Muss es eine Trennung geben" (Must we

part).

Book V.
„ 13. "Geliebter, wo zaudert dein arrender Fuss"

(Beloved, why tarriest thou).
„ 14. "Wie froh und frisch" (How bright and

gay).
„ 15. "Treue Liebe dauert lange" (True love
grieves long).
43. " Four Songs" for One Voice and Piano-
No. I. "Von ewiger Liebe" (Love undying)

Jos. Wentzig ( IVendish).
„ 2. "Die Mainacht" (The May night)

Ludwig Holty.
„ 3. " Ich scheir mein Horn" (1 ring my bugle)

Old German.
„ 4. "Das Lied vom Herrn von Falkenstein"
(Lord Falkenstein's song)

from Uhlands " Folk-songs."

46. "Four Songs" for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Die Kranze" (The garlands)

Dataller's " Polydora"
„ 2. " Magyarisch" (Magyar love-song)

Ballmer's " Polydora."
„ 3. " Die Schale der Vergessenheit " (The clap

of oblivion) Holty.

„ 4. "An die Nachtigall" (To the nightingale)

Holiy.

47. " Five Songs" for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Botschaft" (Message)

Daumer, after Hafis.
„ 2. " Liebesgluth " (Consuming love)

Daumer, after Hafis.
„ 3. *'SonntSig"{Sund2iy)[//iland{'' Folk-songs")
160

Appendix A

Opus

No. 4. " C) liebliclie Wangen" (O fair cheeks of
roses) . . . Paul Flcmming.

„ 5. " Die liebende schreibt " (To the beloved)

Goethe.

48. " Seven Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. "Der Gang zum Liebchen " (The watchful
lover) ..... Bohemian.
„ 2. " Der Ueberlaufer" (The false love)

fro/u " Das Knabe7i M 'u7iderIiorn " ( The
Youth's Enchanted Horn).
„ 3. " Liebesklage des Madchens " (The maid
forlorn)
from '■'■Das Knaben Wunderhorn" {The
Youth's Enchanted Horn).
„ 4. "Gold iiberwiegt die Liebe" (Love betrayed
for riches) .... Bohemian.
„ 5. "Trost in Thriinen" (Comfort in tears)

Goethe.
„ 6. "Vergangen ist mir Gliick und Heil" (Of
every joy I am bereft) . 0/d German.
„ 7. " Herbst Gefiihl" (Autumnal gloom)

A. F. von Schack.

49. " Five Songs" for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. "Am Sonntag Morgen" (Last Sunday

morning) Paul Weyse {Italian Song-book).

„ 2. "Anein Veilchen" (To a violet) . H'olty

„ 3. "Sehnsucht " (Longings) . . Bohemian.

„ 4. "Wiegenlied" (Cradle song)

to B. F. in Vienna.
„ 5. "Abenddammerung" (Evening shadows)

Adolf Friedrich von Schack.
57. "Eight Songs" for Solo Voice with Piano —
(Words by G. F. Daumer.)

Book I.
No. I. "Von waldbekrantzter Hohe" (From forest-
crowned height).
„ 2. "Wenn du nur zuweilen" (Didst thou but
sometimes).
L 161

Brah

ms

Opus

No. 3. " Es triiumte nur" (Only in dreams).
,, 4. "Ach, wende diesen Blick" (Ah, turn away
thy glance).

Book II.

„ 5. " In meiner Nachte Sehnen " (In my nights
of longing).

,, 6. "Strahlt zuweilen auch ein mildes Licht"
(Sometime beamed on me a gentle light).

„ 7. " Die Schnur, die Perl und Perlen " (The
string of precious pearls).

,, 8. "Unbewegte laue Luft " (Thou gently-
stirring zephyr).

58. "Eight Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

Book I.

No. I. "Blinde Kuh " (Blindman's buff)

Aug. Kopisch {Italian).

,, 2. " Wahrend des Regens" (While the rain

falls) ..... Kopisch.

„ 3. " Die Sprode " (The prude) . Calabriaii.

„ 4. " O komme, holde Sommernacht" (O come,

thou lovely summer night) . M. Grohe.

Book II.

„ 5. " Schwermuth" (Despair) Carl Candidus.
„ 6. " In der Gasse'' (In the street) Fr. Hebbel.
„ 7. " Voriiber" (Long ago) . . „
„ 8. "Serenade" . . A. Fr. von Schack.

59. " Eight Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

Book I.

No. I. " Damm'rung senkte sich von Oben "
(Twilight) .... Goethe.

„ 2. "Auf dem See" (On the lake)

Carl Sim rock.
„ 3. "Regenlied"( Rain song) . Claus Groth.
„ 4. " Nachklange" (Tears) . „

162

Appendix A

Opus

Book II.

No. 5. '• Agnes " E. Morike.

„ 6. ''Gute Nacht" (Good-night) G F. Daumer.
„ 7. '• Mein wundes Herz" (Nly wounded heart)

a. Groth.
„ 8. " Dein blaues Auge" (Thy blue eye) „
61. "Four Duets" for Soprano and Alto with Piano —
No. I. " Die Schwestern " (The sisters)

Ed. Morike.
„ 2. " Klosterfraulein" (The convent wall)

Just. Kerner.
„ 3. "Phanomen" (Love hath not departed)

Goethe., " \Vest'6stliche7i Divan.^''
„ 4. '• Die Boten der Liebe" (Envoys of love)

Josef IVenzig {Bohemian).
63. " Nine Songs" for One Voice and Piano —

Book I.

No. I. " Friihlingstrost " (Comfort in spring)

Max von Schenkendorf.
,, 2- ■' Erinnerung" (Remembrance)

Max von Schenkendorf.
„ 3. ■■ An ein Bild" (To a portrait)

iMax von Schenkendorf.
,, 4. '■ An die Tauben" (To a dove)

Max von Schenkendorf.

Book II.

„ 5. "Junge Liebe" (Youthful lays)

A fax von Schenkendorf.
„ 6. „ „ II.

„ 7. "Heimweh" (Far from home) Claus Groth.
„ 8. „ II.

„ 9. » HI-

66. "Five Duets" for Soprano and Alto with Piano —

No. I. " Kliinge" (True lover's heart) Claus Groth.
-» II

16;

Brahms

Opus

No. 3, "Am Strande" (By the summer sea)

Hermann Holty.
„ 4. " J iigerlied" (The huntsman) Car/ Ca«^/</«j.
„ 5. " Hvit du dich" (Beware)

Knaben Wunderbuch.
69. "Nine Songs" for One Voice and Piano—

Book I.

No. I. "Klage" (Complaint)

Josef Wenzig {Bohemian).
„ 2. „ „ » {Slavonian).

„ 3. "Abschied" (Parting) „ {Boheifiian)

„ 4. "Das Liebsten Schwur" (The lover's vow)

Josef Wenzig {Bohe7nian).
„ 5. "Tambourliedchen" (Drummer's song)

Carl Candidiis.
Book II.
„ 6. " Vom Strande" (On the shore)

Vo7i Eichendorff, after the Spanish.
„ 7. "Ueberdie See "(Over the sea) Crtr/Ze;«fX'^.
„ 8. "Salome" .... Gottfried Keller.
„ 9. "Madchenfluch" (Maiden's curse)

Kapper.^ from Servian.

70. " Four Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. "Im Garten am Seegestade " (The garden
by the sea) . . . Carl Lemcke.
„ 2. " Lerchengesang " (Skylark's song)

Carl Candidus.
„ 3. "Serenade" .... Goethe.

„ 4. "Abendregen " (Evening shower)

Gottfried Keller.

71. " Five Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Esliebt sichsolieblich im Lenze"(0 May,
love is sweet in thy bowers) . Heine.

„ 2. " An den Mond " (To the moon)

Carl Simrock.

„ 3. " Geheimniss " (Secret) . Carl Candidus.

„ 4. "Willst du, das ich geh" (V^ilt thou have

me ""o) .... Carl Lemcke.

164

Appendix A

Opus

No. 5. " Minnelied "(Love song) . . .Holly.
72. " Five Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Alte Liebe" (Old love) . Carl Candidus.
„ 2. " Sommerfaden " (Summer gossamers)

Carl Catididus.
„ 3. " O kiihler Wald " (O forest cool)

CI. Brenlano.
„ 4. "Verzagen" (Lament) . Carl Lenicke.
„ 5. " Uniiberwendlich " (The untameable)

Goethe.
75. "Four Ballads and Romances" for Two Voices and
Piano —
No. I. (Alto and Tenor) " Edward"

Herder's " Volkslicdcr. "

„ 2. (Soprano and Alto) "Outer Rath" (Good

counsels) . . Knaden IVunderbuck.

„ 3. (Soprano and Alto) " So lass uns wandern "

(So let us wander) . We7izig {Bohemiaii).

„ 4. (Two Sopranos) " Walpurgisnacht " (Wal-

purgis night) . . Willibald Alexis.

84. " Songs and Romances " for One or Two Voices and

Piano —
No. I. " Sommerabend " (Summer evening)

Hans Schmidt.
„ 2. " Der Kranz" (The wreath) „ „

„ 3. " In die Beeren " (Amongst the berries)

Ha?is Schmidt.
„ 4. "Vergebliches StJindchen " (Vain suit)

Lower RJienish Folk-song.
„ 5. " Spannung " (Strained greetings)

Lower Rhetiish Folk-song.

85. " Six Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Sommerabend "(Summer evening) . i%/«^.
„ 2. " IMondenschein " (Moonlight) . „

„ 3. " Mjidchenlied" (Maiden's song)

Sieqfried Kappcr {Servian).
„ 4. "Ade" (Adieu)

Sie^ried Kapper {Bohetnian).
165 '

Brahms

Opus

No. 5. " Friihlingslied " (Spring song)

Emmanuel Geibel.
„ 6. "Waldeseinsamkeit" (Forest loneliness)

Lemcke.
86. " Six Songs " for One Voice and Piano-
No. I. "Therese" . . . Gottfried Keller.
„ 2. " Feldeinsamkeit " (In summer fields)

Hcrmafin Albners.
„ 3. " Nachtwandler " (The sleeper)

Max Kalbeck.
„ 4. " Ueber die Haide " (Over the moor)

Theodor Storm.
„ 5. " Versunken" (Engulfed) . Felix Sc/iuman?t.
„ 6. " Todessehnen " (Shadows of death)

Max von ScJie7ikendorf.
gi. "Two Songs" for Alto, with Viola Obbhgato and
Piano —
No. I. "Gestillte Sehnsucht " (Longing at rest)

Friedrich Riickert.
„ 2. " Geistliches Wiegenlied " (Virgin's cradle
song) Enunanuel Geibel^after Lope de Vega.
94. " Five Songs " for Low Voice and Piano —
No. I. " Mit vierzig Jahren " (At forty)

Friedrich Riickert.
„ 2. " Stieg'auf, geliebter Schatten " (Arise, be-
loved spirit) . . . Friedrich Halm.
„ 3. " Mein Herz ist schwer" (My heart is sad)

Emmanuel Geibel.
„ 4. " Sapphisches Ode" (Sapphic ode)

Hans Schmidt.
„ 5. " Kein Haus, keine Heimath" (No house,
no home) , Friedrich Hahn^from a drama.
95. " Seven Songs " for One Voice and Piano —
No. I. " Das Madchen " (The maiden ")

Sieg. Kapper {Servian).
„ 2. " Bei dir sind meine Gedanken " (My
thoughts are of thee) . Friedrich Halm.
„ 3. " BeimAbschied" (At parting) „ ,,

„ 4. " Der Jiiger " (The hunter) „ „

166

Appendix A

Opus

No. 5. " Vorschneller Schwur" (Rash vow)

K upper {Servian).
„ 6. " Miidchenlied " (Maiden's song)

Paul Ilcyse {Italian).

„ 7. " Schon war, das ich dir weihte" (Fine was

the gift I gave thee) . . Daumer.

96. " Four Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Der Tod, das ist die kiihle Nacht" (Death

is a cool night) .... Heine.

„ 2. " Wir wandelten " (We wandered) Daumer.

„ 3. " Es schauen die Hlumen" (The flowers are

peeping) Heine.

„ 4. '• Meerfahrt" (At sea) . . . „

97. " Six Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. "Nachtigall" (Nightingale) . C.Reinhold.
„ 2. " Auf dem Schiffe " (A birdhng flew)

C. Reinhold.
„ 3. " Entfuhrung " (O Lady Judith)

Willibald Alexis.

„ 4. " Dort in den Weiden " (There 'mid the

willows) . Lower RhenisJi Folk-song.

„ 5. " Komm bald " (Come soon) Claus Groth.

,, 6. " Trennung " (Parting) . . Suabian.

105. "Five Songs" for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " Wie Melodien zieht es mir"(Like music
sounding).
„ 2. " Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer"

(Ever lighter grew my slumbers).
„ 3. " Klage " (Lament).

„ 4. " Auf dem Kirchhof" (In the churchyard).
„ 5. "Verrath " (Treachery).

106. " Five Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " StJindchen" (Serenade).
„ 2. "Auf dem See" (On the sea).
,, 3. " Es hing der Reif " (There hung a wreath).
„ 4. "Meine Lieder" (My songs).
,, 5. " Ein Wanderer" (A wanderer).

107. "Five Songs " for One Voice and Piano —

No. I. " An die Stolze " (Pride).
167

Brahms

Opus

No. 2. " Salamander."
„ 3. "Das Madchen spricht " (The maiden

speaks).
„ 4. " Maienkiitzchen " (May kittens).
„ 5. " Madchenlied " (Maiden's song).
121. "Four Serious Songs" for One Voice and Piano —
(The words are taken from the Bible.)
No. I. " Denn es gehet dem Menschen."
„ 2. " Ich wandte mich und sahe."
„ 3. " O Tod, wie bitter."

„ 4. " Wenn ich mit Menschen-und mit Engels-

zungen " (Though I speak with the

tongues of men and of angels).

" Mondnacht " (" Es war, als hatte der Himmel "), Song

without Opus number, for High Voice and Piano.

Chamber Music (without Piano).
18. " First Sextet for Strings " in B flat.

Allegro ma non troppo — Tema con Variazioni —
Scherzo {allegro molio) — Rondo {poco allegretto
e gracioso).
36. " Second Sextet for Strings " in G major.

Allegro non troppo — Scherzo {allegro non troppo) —
Poco adagio — Poco allegro.
51. " Two Quartets f)r Strings'' —

No. I in C minor. — Allegro — Romanze {poco adagio)
— Allegretto molto moderato e comodo — Un poco
piu animato — Allegro.
No. 2 in A minor. — Allegro non troppo — An-
dante moderato — Quasi Minuetto, moderato —
Allegretto vivace — Finale {allegro non assai).
67. " Third Quartet for Strings " in B flat.

Vivace— Andante — Agitato {allegretto non troppo)
— Poco allegretto con Variazioni — Doppio movi-
mento.
88. " Quintet for Strings" in F major.

Allegro non troppo ma con brio — Grave appassion-
ato— Finale {allegro encrgico).
III. "Second Quintet for Strings" in G major.
168

Appendix A

Opus
115. "Quintet for Clarionet and Strings" in B minor.

Piano, with other Instruments.
8. "Trio for Piano, Violin and 'Cello" in B.

Allegro con moto— Scherzo {allegro tnoltd) — Adagio
non troppo — Finale {allegro 7nolio agitato').

25. "First Quartet for Piano and Strings" in G minor.

Allegro — Intermezzo {allegro non troppo) — Andante
con moto — Rondo alia Zingarese.

26. "Second Quartet for Piano and Strings" in F

minor.
Allegro non troppo— Poco adagio — Scherzo {poco
allegro — Finale {allegro).
34. " First Quintet for Piano and Strings " in F minor

Allegro non troppo— Andante un poco adagio —
Scherzo (a//<?^'r^)— Finale {poco sostenuto — allegro
non troppo).
38, "Sonata for Piano and Violoncello" in E minor.

Allegro non troppo — Allegretto quasi moderato —
Allegro.
40. " Trio for Piano, Violin and Waldhorn (or Cello or
Viola)" in E flat.

Andante — Scherzo — Adagio mesto — Finale {alle-
gro con brio).
60, "Third Quartet for Piano and Strings " in C minor.

Allegro non troppo — Scherzo (a//,?o'rci)- Andante —
Finale {allegro comodo).
78. " Sonata for Piano and Violin" in G.

Vivace ma non troppo — Adagio — Allegro molto
moderato.
87. " Trio for Piano, Violin and 'Cello" in C.

AUegio — Theme and Variations — Scherzo {presto)
— Finale {allegj'o giocoso).
99. "Second Sonata for Piano and Violoncello" in F.

Allegro vivace — Adagio affettuoso — Allegro pas-
sionate— Allegro molto.
100, " Second Sonata for Piano and Violin " in A.

Allegro amabile — Andante tranquillo — \' ivace
{(ilternativo) — Allegretto grazioso {quasi andante).
169

Brahms

Opus
loi. "Trio for Piano, Violin and 'Cello" in C minor.

Allegro energico — Presto non assai — Andante
grazioso — Allegro molto.
io8. " Third Sonata for Piano and Violin " in D minor.
114. "Trio for Piano, Violin and Clarionet (or Alto)" in

A minor.
120. "Two Sonatas for Piano and Clarionet (or Alto)" —
No. I in F minor.
No. 2 in E flat.

Concertos.

15. " First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra " in D minor

Maestoso — Adagio — Rondo {allegro non troppo).
77. "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" in D major.

Allegro non troppo — Adagio — Allegro giocoso ma
non troppo vivace.
83. " Second Concerto for Piano and Orchestra " in B flat.
Allegro non troppo — Allegro appassionato — An-
dante— Allegretto grazioso.
102. " Double Concerto for Violin and 'Cello and Orchestra "
in A minor (C).

Piano Solos.

1. " Sonata for Pianoforte " in C.

Allegro — Andante (introducing an Old German
Love Song, " Verstohlen geht der Mond auf ") —
Scherzo {allegro molto e con fuocd) — Finale
{allegro confuoco).

2. " Sonata for Pianoforte " in F sharp minor.

Allegro non troppo ma energico — Andante con
espressione — Scherzo {allegro) — Finale {Intro-
duction^ Sostenuto — Allegro non troppo e riibato).

4. " Scherzo for Pianoforte " in E flat minor.

5. " Sonata for Pianoforte " in F minor.

Allegro maestoso — Andante espressivo — Scherzo
{allegro energico) — Intermezzo (Riickblick — an-
dante molto) — Finale {allegro moderato ma
rubato).

170

Appendix A

Opus

9. "Variations for Piano" on a Theme by Schumann.
10. "Four Ballads for Piano" in D minor, D, B, and

B minor.
21. No. I. "Variations on an Original Theme in D."

„ 2. "Variations (and Unale) on a Hungarian
Theme in D."
24. " Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Hiindel."
35. " Studies for Piano" (Variations on a Theme by Paga-

nini), in two books.
76. " Eight Piano Pieces " (in two books)—

Nos. I, 2, 5, and 8. Capriccios (F flat minor,

B minor, C flat minor, and C).
„ 3, 4, 6, and 7. Intermezzi (A sharp,
B, A, and A minor).
79. "Two Rhapsodies," No. i in B minor, No. 2 in B flat.

116. " Fantasien " (in two books) —

Book I. " Capriccios " in D minor and G minor.
" Intermezzo" in A minor.
„ II. " Intermezzi" in E, E minor, and E.
"Capriccio" in D minor.

117. "Three Intermezzi "in E flat, B flat minor, and C sharp

minor.

118. " Six Piano Pieces " —

" Intermezzi " in A minor. A, F minor, and E flat minor.
" Ballade" in G minor.
" Romance" in F.

119. " Four Piano Pieces"—

" Intermezzi " in B minor, E minor, and C.
"Rhapsodic" in E flat.
" Etude, after Chopin " (in F minor).
"Etude, after Weber" (Rondo in C).
"Presto, from J. S. Bach" (Sonata in G minor tor

Violin alone).
" Presto, from J. S. Bach," for left hand alone.
" D minor Chaconne, from J. S. Bach." for left hand

alone (the famous Chaconne for Violin alone).
" Gavotte in A, from Gliick " (" Paride ed Elena").
" Abendregen," Blatter fur Hausmusik.
" 51 Uebungen" (Exercises or Studies), (published in 1893).
171

Brahms

Opus

Piano, Four Hands.

23. " Variations on a Theme by Schumann."

34B. " Sonata for Two Pianos," from Op. 34.

39. " Waltzes."

52. " Liebeslieder (Love Song) Waltzes," with Four Voices

(S., A., T., B.) ad libitum.
52A. "Liebeslieder (Love Song) Waltzes" (without Voice

parts).
56B. " Variations on a Theme by Haydn," from Op. 56A.
65. " Neue (New) Liebeslieder Waltzes," with Four Voices

(S., A., T., B.) ad libitum.
" Hungarian Dances,'' in four books.

Organ.

" Fugue in A flat minor."

" Chorale— Prelude and Fugue, ' O Traiirigkeit,'" in
A minor.

Besides these original works and arrangements, Brahms
edited the " Piano Compositions of Fr. Couperin " for Chry-
sander's " Denkmaler der Tonkunst" (Monuments of the
Tonal Art), revised Mozart's " Requiem " for the new edi-
tion of Mozart's works, was concerned in the complete
edition of Chopin's works, and edited three posthumous
works of Schubert, and the " Scherzo" and " Presto Appas-
sionato " of Schumann. He also edited Bach's works, and
amplified the figured-bass of two Sonatas for Violin and
Piano by C. P. E. Bach with rare insight and self-restraint,
so that they are a model of what such work ought to be, and
furnished the accompaniments to an edition of Handel's
Vocal Duets.

172

Appendix B

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The amount of literature of a permanent value about
Brahms is small, if we except a considerable quantity of
critical material — reviews and similar writings in the form
of essays and magazine articles. The appended list makes
no pretence of completeness, especially as it includes no
critical or biographical works or essays that appeared prior
to 1880, about which time Erahms' fame may be said to
have been incontestably established. Nor is the list of
publications in foreign tongues large, though there is such a
scarcity of really valuable matter in the English language
that the author has felt it advisable to include such as have
been useful to him in the preparation of this volume.
The list is as follows : —

Bie, Oscar — " History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte

Players," London, 1899.
Charles, M. — "Zeitgenossische Tondichter," Leipsic, 1888.
Conrat, Hugo — "Johannes Brahms : Souvenirs personales"

{La Revue musicale, Paris, 1904).
Deiters, Hermann — "Johannes Brahms" (2 vols.), 1880.

(Translated and condensed into one volume by Rosa

Newmarch.)
Dietrich, Albert, and Widmann, Jos. V. — "Recollections of

Johannes Brahms," London, 1899. (Translated bv D.

E. Hecht.)
Ehlert, Louis — " From the Tone World," New York, 1884.
Ferris, George T. — "Great German Composers," New York,

1895.
Finck, Henry Theophilus. — "Songs and Song Writers,"

New York, 1900.
Goepp, P. H. — " Symphonies and Their Meaning" (Second

Series), Philadelphia, 1902.
173

Brahms

Hadow, W. H.— "Studies in Modern Music" (Second

Series), London, 1894.
Henschel, Georg — " Personal Recollections of Johannes

Brahms" {Century Mai^azine, Vol. LXI., New York,

1901).
Heuberger, R. — "My Early Acquaintance with Brahms"

{Musical World, Vol. III., Boston, 1903).
Hohenemser, R. — "Johannes Brahms und die Volksmusik"

{Die Musik, Vol. II., Berlin).
Hubbard, Elbert— "Johannes Brahms" (Little Journeys

Series), East Aurora, New York, 1901.
Huneker, James—" Mezzotints in Modern Music," New

York, 1899.
Imbert, H. — "Profils de musiciens," Paris, 1888.

"Portraits et etudes," Paris, 1894.

JuUien, Adolphe — "Johannes ^ra.hms^'' {Revue ijtiernationale

de musique, Paris, 1898).
Kalbeck, Max— "Johannes Brahms" (2 vols.), Vienna.

(The first volume, giving the composer's life up to the

year 1862, has just appeared in the German language.)
Kelterborn, Louis — "Johannes Brahms" {Fatuous Com-
posers attd Their Works, Boston).
Klein, Hermann— "Thirty Years of Musical Life in

London," New York, 1903.
Kobb^, Gustav— "Johannes Brahms" {Looker- Ott, New

York, 1896).
Kohler, Louis— "Johannes Brahms und seine Stellung in

der Musikgeschichte," Hanover.
La Mara— "Johannes Brahms" {Musikalische Studien-

kopfe, Book III., Leipsic).
Law, Frederic S.— "Johannes Brahms" {Musician, Vol.

IX., Boston, 1904).
Maitland, J. A. Fuller— "Masters of German Music,"

London, 1894.
Marsop, P.— "Musikalische Essays," Berlin, 1899.
Mason, Daniel Gregory—" From Grieg to Brahms," New

York, 1902.
Mason, Dr William—" Memories of a Musical Life," New

York, 1900.
Musician, 77/^— " Brahms Number," Philadelphia, 1898.

174

Appendix B

Musik, i9;V— "Brahms Number," Berlin, 1903.

Neue J//<!j/y{:-Ze7/««^— Stuttgart-Leipzig, Nos. 9, 13, 18, 20,

1897.
Newmarch, Rosa— "Tchaikovsky : His Life and Works."
Niemann, W — "Johannes Brahms als Klavier Komponist"

{Die Musi/c, Vol. IL, Berlin, 1904).
Potocka, Countess Angela— " Theodor Leschetizky," New

York, 1903.
Riemann, Dr Hugo— "Johannes Brahms" {Beriihmte

Musfkcr, Berlin, 1899).
"Johannes Brahms" {Harmonie Verlagsgeschichte,

1899).
Rottger, B. — " Der Entwickelungsgang von Johannes

Brahms" {Neue Musik-Zcitioig, Vol. XXV., 1904).
Runciman, J. F.— " Old Scores and New Readings," London,

1899.
Simrock, "Johannes Brahms. Thematisches Verzeichniss,"

Berlin, 1887.
Upton, George P.— "Standard Cantatas," Chicago, 1891.

"Standard Oratorios," Chicago, 1890.

"Standard Symphonies," Chicago, 1891.

Vogel, Bernhard— "Johannes Brahms. Sein Lebensgang

und eine Wurdigung seine Werke" {Mtisikheroen der

Neuzeit, IV., Leipsic).
Widmann, Jos. \.—{See Dietrich).

Besides these, there are references, more or less important,
in the standard Dictionaries — notably Grove's, Riemann's
and Baker's — in practically all histories of music a.nd
biographies of musicians which touch upon the period
during which Brahms lived, and in innumerable sketches
and reviews which have appeared from time to time in
magazines, newspapers and the like.

175

Index

Allers, C. W,, 73
Anne of Hesse, 60
Austria, Emperor of, 77

Bach, 139, 146

Beethoven, 105, 120, 126, 127

Bie, Oscar, 125

Billroth, Dr, 65, 92, in

Brahms, Elise, 4, 104

Brahms, Fritz, 4

Brahms, Johann Jacob, 1-3

Brahms, Johanna, 2, 3, 42

Brahms, Johannes : birth and par-
entage, 1,2; father's circum-
stances, 3 ; education, 3 ; his
brother and sister, 4 ; knocked
down by a drosky, 5 ; home life,

5 ; evinces early taste for music,

6 ; musical teachers, 6 ; fond of
books and tin soldiers, 7 ; d^but
as pianist, 8 ; tour with Eduard
Remenyi, 8 ; a successful pianist,
9 ; extraordinary memory, 10 ;
meets Joachim, 1 1 ; at Hanover
and Weimar, 11 ; meets Liszt,
12 ; meets Schumann at Dussel-
dorf, 14 ; Dietrich's opinion of
him, 15 : Schumann's apprecia-
tion, 16 ; in Leipsic, 18; first
works published, 18, 19; effect
of Schumann's article, 20 ; meets
Rubinstein, 23 ; mannerisms,
23, 24 ; at Detmold, 25 ; friend-
ship for Madame Schumann,

M

25, 26 ; Op. 10 published, 26 ;
new compositions, 28 ; visits
Switzerland, 29 ; " Handel Vari-
ations," 29 ; at Oldenburg, 30,
32 ; goes to Vienna, 34 ; meets
Wagner, 35 ; Chorus-master at
the Sing-Akademie, 36 ; works
published in 1863-66, 38-41 ;
mother's death, 42 ; travels,
44 ; the " German Requiem,"
45-48 ; personality, 49 ; publica-
tions of 1868-71, 50-54 ; concert
directorand Court Capellmeister,
55 ; enthusiastic receptions, 56 ;
decorated by King of Bavaria,
57 ; presented with illuminated
address, 58 ; popular with
children, 59 ; aristocratic friends,
60 ; at Sassnitz, 61 ; produces
first Symphony, 62 ; works of
1875-76, 62; degree of Doctor
of Music conferred by Cambridge
University, 63 ; visits Italy, 65 ;
Doctor of Philosophy, 66 ; de-
clines call to London, 68 ;
friendship with Gottfried Keller,
69 ; publications of 1882-86,
70, 71 ; honours, 72 ; at Thun,
72 ; visitors, 73 ; in Italy with
Simrock and Kirchner, 74 ;
Italian tour with Widmann, 75,
76 ; decorated by Emperor of
Austria, 77 ; again visits Italy
with Widmann, 77 ; love of

177

Brah

ms

Italy and Italians, 78, 79 ; last
works, 79, 80 ; last Italian
journey, 81 ; royal friends, 82 ;
effect of news of Madame
Schumann's death, 83 ; last
public appearance, 84 ; death
at Vienna, 85 ; estate and heirs,
85 ; statue and museum, 86 ;
personal traits and anecdotes,
87 et seq. ; as a musician, ii<) et
seq.
Bulow, Von, 20, 71, 126, 131,
146

" Chorale- VoRSPiEL," 68
Conrat, Herr, 84, 88, in
Cossell, Otto, 6

" Deutsche Fest- und Gedenk-

spriiche," 81
Dietrich, Albert, 14, 22, 31-33,

36, 42, 51, 104
Dvorak, 65, 1 18, 133

Ehlert, Dr Louis, 38, 142

Fellinger, Frau, 103
Feuerbach, Anselm, 69
Finck, H. T., 134, 135
" First Sonata," 17
Freitag, Gustav, 72

"German Folk-songs," 40
"German Requiem," the, 42,

45-48, 57, 85, 137, 143
Germany, Emperor of, 72
Gipsy Bands, 97
Goetz, 92, 117
Gratz Choral Society, 99
Groth, Klaus, 73

" HXndel Variations," 29, 33, 36
Hanslick, Dr Edouard, 73, 87, 105

Hausmann, Robert, 67, 75, 82
Haydn, 105

" Haydn Variations," 56
Hegar, Fr., 40, 81, 82
Henschel, Georg, 61, 95, 105
Herbeck, 55, 58, 65
Hesse-Barchfeld, Princess of, 60
" Hungarian Dances," 52

Joachim, ii, 13, 44, 46, 63, 67,

82
Joachim, Madame, 46

Kalbeck, Max, 57, 73
Keller, Gottfried, 69
Kirchner, 29, 30, 74
"Konig Hirsch," 113, 114
Kreutzer Sonata, 10

Leeds Festival, 100

Leser, Fraulein, 22

" Liebeslieder Waltzes," 51,71

Liszt, 12, 13, 120, 133

" Marienlieder," 29
Martucci, 75, 76
Marxsen, Eduard, 6, 7
Mason, Dr William, 122
Meiningen, Duke and Duchess of,

81, 82
Mora, no, in
Mozart, 117

"Nanie,"69
Niecks, 140
Nietzsche, 93
Nissen, Peter, 2

" Paganini Variations," 43
Platen, Count, 11, 81
Potocka, Countess, 96

178

Index

Raff, 94
Reinthaler, 45, 48
Remenyi, Eduard, 8-10, 12, 13
" Rhapsodic," 52
"Rinaldo," 51, 52
Rosing, Frau, 29, 38
Rubinstein, 23, 94
Runciman, J. F., 134

Schubert, 34, 51

Schumann, Madame, 15, 21, 25,

26, 31, 83
Schumann, Robert 14, 15, 20,

21, 23, 25, 38,67
Simrock, 65, 74
Stockhausen, Julius, 24, 41

Strauss, Tohann, 103
Strauss, Madame, 103

TONKUNSTLERVEREIN, The, 96,

97
" Triumphlied," 53, 56, 82, 139
Tschaikowsky, 131 -133

Verdi, 117

" Volks-Kinderlieder," 41

Wagner, 35, 74, 115, 116
Widmann,73, 75. 76, 102, 109-I14
Wildenbruch, Ernst von, 77

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